"Community-Based Acute Treatment (CBAT) is a hospital-diversion program specifically designed to provide short-term emergency stabilization support to children between the ages of three and ten years old who are actively in severe emotional and behavioral crisis." http://walkerschool.org/services/residential-services#cbat
I need to vent. As most of you know my son is in CBAT, he's 5, it's been 2 weeks yesterday. This is his 2nd hosp., so this time he is acting bottled up and not expressing his "self" as much, although did in the beginning. As his mom -I- know he is fearful because of what he saw last time and this time he is afraid he won't come home. Hence the initial outbursts and "critical reports" and then now, things are quieter.
Rather than see he was manic and aggressive for the first week, and then calmer the second week (mind you there is a HIGHLY volatile child in his unit with him on week 2, which is causing him to be in fear all the time.)
Now orig they thought of him as SO active he needed meds, and since the other child came into the house, and dominates everything and everyone, my son is now quieter (fearful). I think when a child sees repeatedly other children tackled, chased down, pinned to the ground, restrained, SCREAMING crying that it's natural they would be afraid (he's 5 remember). Right?
They are telling me he is just adjusting to the "structure" and with that structure at home he will be fine. Really? What artificial world do you live in? Of course we know how to structure and keep our kids safe, but the real world isn't like that CBAT structure, no matter how we try, cannot be duplicated at home, it's impossible. Ok sure send me 4 staff, a glass time out room and a facility of help. *sighs* I am SO sick of the fight! And also, with the energy poured into this volatile child, the other 7 kids are not watched as closely, so my son is eating pennies, kicking windows, falling in the shower, tearing up his room and they have not noticed! Can you believe this?
WHAT the hell has our medical world turned into? No wait, the staff noticed he tore his room apart because while I was there they cleaned his room! Yes that's right folks, in the 5 mins I was there they took his destroyed room and cleaned it and made the bed. For what purpose? Part of his stay is to learn self help and they do their rooms daily. What the heck is going on while I am not there if these are just a few things I do see? Exasperated!
Document everything, take notes, take names, take pictures! Visit often and WATCH staff and what they do/say. My son is in "best of state" and this is just a sampling of what I have put up with there. I have collected his "therapy art work", taken pictures of his artwork on the walls, and I should have taken a picture of his torn up room because when I walked by 5 mins later, the evidence was gone. Do I sound paranoid? Trust me, I am a very sane and educated woman who is being made to believe less is going on than there really is.
