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A child with school avoidance should be getting mental health assistance from an experienced professional. The level of care will be determined by your child’s progression or severity of symptoms. School avoidance can be disruptive to the whole family unit as well, so you may require more assistance for yourself, your other children, or the entire family.
The following is a list of levels of care that may be suitable for your child with school avoidance.
This is your basic once or twice-a-week therapy session at your provider’s office or online. Therapists have to be licensed in your state to provide you with teletherapy. Outpatient treatment is appropriate when your school-avoidant child needs help but their symptoms aren’t bad enough to affect their daily functioning.
Usually incorporates multiple visits per week (2-5) with more structured programming for clients with more severe symptoms. Hours per day will vary among programs. When the program is for youth or adolescents, they are often offered after the school day.
Partial programs are a way to get intensive treatment without being in a residential setting or hospitalization. These are day programs where the hours of treatment could be an entire morning, a whole afternoon, or a full day, usually five days a week. Sometimes partial programs are utilized as a “step down” program. Going from an inpatient setting and then gradually reducing the intensity and level of care. This type of program is also used as an alternative to inpatient.
Many of these programs have top-notch clinicians, and therapeutic interventions specifically developed to help kids with school avoidance. But some school avoidant kids are too anxious to start going to these programs every day. The programs know this can be an issue and many will have strategies to help ease your child into the program. Of course, you will speak with the program director and they will help you determine if their program is a suitable option.
This is the most intensive level of care for people who are in emergency situations. If this is for a child whose school avoidance has gone into a crisis situation; these facilities will most likely be psychiatric hospitals with children/adolescent/teenager programs.
These programs are usually within (or affiliated) with a general hospital containing a child’s psychiatric unit or in a specific psychiatric clinic with a children’s program.
The team that treats your child will develop a plan of care for their stay. The length of stay will vary. It usually is between 3-7 days and sometimes can be 7-14 days.
The purpose of this level of care is to stabilize, get through a crisis situation and get a plan for ongoing treatment upon discharge.
The treatment plan will identify the next level of care needed, possibly medication management, it may note preferred modes of therapy, and possibly referrals to other treatment providers.
A parent, emergency room doctor, personal psychiatrist or psychologist can do the referral to an inpatient program (hospitalization).
These programs are required to have a school-like component, but truth be told, many have an educational supervisor to assist with any school work provided for them from their home school district.
Residential treatment is similar to when you hear that someone went to “rehab.” It may be appropriate for kids with entrenched school avoidance who have a major depressive disorder, a severe anxiety disorder, OCD, PTSD or other mental health challenges that are fueling their school avoidance.
It differs from inpatient hospitalization because:
In addition to getting more intensive forms of therapy, it also allows the clients to get away from their usual everyday environment and concentrate on improving their mental health.
These programs usually have a well-structured school component. You will need to find out if they take your health insurance or will they submit your claims as an out-of-network provider on your behalf?*
If your child is in crisis and/or you fear he may be in danger, do not hesitate to go to your local emergency room. Some hospitals have a pediatric emergency room. If you have been considering this option and have time without jeopardizing safety, you can call the hospital ER and ask them. Some ER’s also have a space for mental health evaluations.
Most states and counties have designated mental health intervention services for children in crisis. This could be another option for crisis intervention when a child is not in danger of hurting themselves or others.
Mobile Response and Stabilization Services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help children and youth experiencing emotional or behavioral crises. The services are designed to defuse an immediate crisis, keep children and their families safe, and maintain the children in their own homes or current living situation in the community.
The responder will meet with you and your child and determine the level of care needed at the time and help connect you with community mental health providers.
You can usually find these programs on your state or county’s Division of Mental Health website.
Or you can try googling: “your state or your county children’s crisis intervention,” “children’s mobile response,” or “children’s system of care.”
You can also try “your states Division of Child” and Families and “Mobile Crisis Response.”
This is a directory of some states and their crisis response contact information courtesy of Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective.
*https://www.ashcreekranchacademy.com/residential-treatment-centers-complete-guide-for-parents/
Disclaimer: This site is designed by School Avoidance Alliance to assist parents, family, friends, caregivers, educators, advocates, and other professionals involved with helping children and finding resources to understand, help and cope with school avoidance, as well as to increase public awareness regarding school avoidance. The contents of this website are presented for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing on this website is to be construed as professional advice on medical, legal, technical, or therapeutic matters. By accessing and using the information on this site, you agree to waive any rights to hold the site developer(s), or any individual and/or group associated with this site, liable for any damage that may result from the use of the information presented.
Unfortunately only a small percentage of school professionals, therapists, educational advocates and policy makers understand school avoidance best practices. So, you must become the expert to ensure your child is getting:
The time passing slowly without progress is the worst feeling. It wouldn’t have taken five years of suffering and uncertainty if I had this expert guidance during my son’s school avoidance. We would have saved $29,000 in lawyer fees and $69,000 for private schools.
