Anonymous wrote:We went through this, a quick question and then i can share more.

Are they using substances?

OP here. No, we are not dealing with a substance use issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. We've been through this a number of times. It can be a dispiriting and exhausting process, but your DD sounds like she's buying in to the program and that is huge. It'll be OK.

As far as classes, the PHP should have experience with the academic angle for their clients. They'll have time set aside for schoolwork. Do their clients have access to online school portals (think Chromebooks or designated desktops)? The school counselor should coordinate with DD's teachers because this is a medical issue and it's not on you to discuss the situation with every staff member.

Which county are you in?

We are in Montgomery County. They seem to be drastically understaffed in the counseling department at her school. In fact, as I've mentioned, I haven't even had contact with the counselor, only the Vice Principal who appears to be doing the counselor's job (?!). She is a junior and this is her third counselor. They changed the counselor assigned to her last name sophomore year, but that counselor was out on medical leave so we had a different one, who was great. The one on medical leave came back this year, but she still seems to be struggling so we have very little contact with her. So our main liaison seems to be the Vice Principal, and obviously he has many other responsibilities. Oh, and she also has a 504 plan so I don't know how that all comes into play, either.

MCPS has some pretty amazing programs for kids with mental health issues. When you get a bit further down the road you might want to look into them. She would need an IEP to be eligible.

My child is in ES in MCPS with mental health issues- could you please tell me about some of the amazing programs? We are in the process of getting an IEP and I am a litttle stuck wondering how the IEP will actually help him.

SESES, ESESES, Bridge and RICA. I believe ESESES is only HS

OP, no experience but wanted to say that you are doing the right thing.

Best of luck to you and your family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through this along with substance abuse and were in denial at first, the therapists told us they needed a high level of care but we thought they were going through a phase. We wanted them to finish school on time, go to college etc. We should have let all that go, why didn't we? Like most of us, we didn't want to share and let others know the struggles our child was having,

My response got cut off

We also had them go through residential a few times after some relapses and eventually they took their care seriously and they are doing well today and it is day by day.

We try to hide this stuff and not let others know but opening up and talking about it is the best thing we can do for ourselves and kids. More of us are going through this than we all think,

This is so true. There are so many struggling kids right now. There are so many parents just like us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. We've been through this a number of times. It can be a dispiriting and exhausting process, but your DD sounds like she's buying in to the program and that is huge. It'll be OK.

As far as classes, the PHP should have experience with the academic angle for their clients. They'll have time set aside for schoolwork. Do their clients have access to online school portals (think Chromebooks or designated desktops)? The school counselor should coordinate with DD's teachers because this is a medical issue and it's not on you to discuss the situation with every staff member.

Which county are you in?

We are in Montgomery County. They seem to be drastically understaffed in the counseling department at her school. In fact, as I've mentioned, I haven't even had contact with the counselor, only the Vice Principal who appears to be doing the counselor's job (?!). She is a junior and this is her third counselor. They changed the counselor assigned to her last name sophomore year, but that counselor was out on medical leave so we had a different one, who was great. The one on medical leave came back this year, but she still seems to be struggling so we have very little contact with her. So our main liaison seems to be the Vice Principal, and obviously he has many other responsibilities. Oh, and she also has a 504 plan so I don't know how that all comes into play, either.

MCPS has some pretty amazing programs for kids with mental health issues. When you get a bit further down the road you might want to look into them. She would need an IEP to be eligible.

My child is in ES in MCPS with mental health issues- could you please tell me about some of the amazing programs? We are in the process of getting an IEP and I am a litttle stuck wondering how the IEP will actually help him.

Anonymous wrote:We went through this along with substance abuse and were in denial at first, the therapists told us they needed a high level of care but we thought they were going through a phase. We wanted them to finish school on time, go to college etc. We should have let all that go, why didn't we? Like most of us, we didn't want to share and let others know the struggles our child was having,

My response got cut off

We also had them go through residential a few times after some relapses and eventually they took their care seriously and they are doing well today and it is day by day.

We try to hide this stuff and not let others know but opening up and talking about it is the best thing we can do for ourselves and kids. More of us are going through this than we all think,

We went through this along with substance abuse and were in denial at first, the therapists told us they needed a high level of care but we thought they were going through a phase. We wanted them to finish school on time, go to college etc. We should have let all that go, why didn't we? Like most of us, we didn't want to share and let others know the struggles our child was having,

I’m so sorry you are going through this. One option you may want to consider if regular HS is too much, is an online school. My DD uses Acellus Academy. It is self paced and asynchronous. They accept transfer credits for completed courses with over a 70 percent score. Your DD would have to restart any incomplete classes but could catch back up and graduate on time. Good luck to your family.

My neighbor did this, but we are in Alexandria City. Their kid made 2 attempts to take their life (back to back) and was in a residential program for about 2 months. They worked with ACPS for the kid to take a reduced schedule after the hospital stay (with some classes at the satellite location) and in the end took 5 years to graduate high school. Same kid is going very well today, happy, healthy and about to graduate from a very well regarded 4 year college often discussed here on DCUM.

It has been wonderful to see this child make such great progress. I wish the same for your family. I am so sorry this is happening.

I'm so sorry you're going through this OP, and I'm sorry your daughter is struggling so much.

My advice is that you hold as much of the school stress as you can for now, and do not share it with her. She needs to focus on her mental health, getting a treatment plan together that she believes will help, and getting "better enough" that she is capable of returning to school.

The return to school won't be easy - but hopefully with the right mental health team, better meds (if that's an issue), and a more solid outlook she'll be able to deal with it. She doesn't need that stress until she's actually returning to school. That can all be dealt with once she's on more solid ground.

OP, tell the vice principal that you want to enroll your child in IIS. Here's the link so you can get more information about it: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/instruction/

You should be able to sign up your child for online IIS for the same English, math, science, and social studies classes they are currently enrolled in, but not AP classes. For those, she will only get credit for the AP classes for the first semester, and then you'd need to figure out what happens for the second semester.

We went through PHP and IOP for our child in 10th grade, so it wasn't as disruptive as the big junior year, but we just wrote off the fact that she wouldn't be able to take her AP exams that year. The AP classes and grades stayed on her transcript, however.

I would recommend you try to stay on track and not make your child repeat junior year. It is doable, and our high school was amazing and supportive about IIS. Sounds like you are going to have to push your vice principal and counselor to do the same. Get in touch with the IIS person and see what can be done. Go over the vice principal as needed.

I would try not to worry too much about academics right now. If needed she could always do 2 years of MC after HS with a guaranteed transfer to UMD. That will at least keep her relatively close to home and she will end up with the same UMD degree as her fellow classmates.

I've been through this and just want to reiterate that the mental health issue is the most important thing to focus on now. The academics can be addressed later. Drop the rope on the "typical plan" for the high achieving junior. Just tell to do what she can. Control your own emotions/anxiety around the academics. In today's world, there are so many kids going through some flavor of what you are dealing with. There will be an academic path when she is ready. Once you are off the typical path, you realize there are so many options (if you can afford them) - re-starting at a more supportive school could be a great choice.

Good luck with all of this, and hope that your daughter responds well to treatment.