Hello and Welcome.  Each month The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore, Ltd. will provide articles of interest and updates on areas that our office deals with on a regular basis.  We appreciate and welcome feedback, so please feel free to send us an email at mickim@lawforchild.com with questions or suggestions.

The Broken Mental Health System

Fact: Less than 50 percent of the people with serious mental health issues have access to any treatment at all according to the National Association of Mental Illness.   

I represent many adolescents and young adults with serious mental illness. Not infrequently,  parents will call me on a weekend to ask whether I think that hospitalizing their child is necessary due to extreme behaviors or suicidal concerns. No, I am not a psychiatrist. I am an attorney. My job is to provide legal advice and these issues for the most part are outside my field. Parents call because they are desperate. Their child may not even be currently seeing a psychiatrist or refusing treatment. If they are over 18, this complicates matters even further. Parents often have no idea of what to do or who to call.

 

The parents may feel that they or their child are unsafe of that this will be a wake-up call. It often isn't. If parents do decide to take their child to a hospital, they may be assessed and by that time things may have calmed down and the admission refused. Not uncommonly the same crisis will occur within a few hour or days and they are faced with the same dilemma. Being the parent of a child (whatever the age) with mental health issues is exhausting. It requires nerves of steel and perseverance. Well-meaning family members or friends may offer advice that isn't helpful an suggest that you love your child more or kick them out of the house. Neither alternative is the correct answer. However, I have found the following things to be helpful:

1. Have your adolescent or young adult evaluated by a competent mental health professional. Do this early in the process. Don't wait for the problem to go away.
2. Establish ground rules for when a hospitalization may be necessary. (e.g. threats of suicide, physical aggression, dangerous behavior that presents a risk to them or family members).
3. Ask if your police are crisis intervention trained.
4. Develop a crisis plan.
5. Safety first.
6. Eliminate any access to firearms in your home.
7. Seek professional advice for yourself as parents.  Have someone you trust as a resource when things get difficult.
8. Keep trying. 

Winning a Due Process Hearing

 

The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore is a unique legal practice that specializes in providing legal services to families and children in the areas of special education, IEP consultations, divorce and custody, parenting agreements, mediation, guardianship and juvenile law, including criminal law, DCFS and mental health. Where possible, we have initiated flat fee billing for appropriate matters.

 

The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore 

1950 Sheridan Rd. - Suite 201

Highland Park, IL 60035 

 

 

For more information about The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore, please call 847-926-0101 or visit our website at www.lawforchild.com.