Hi Friends,

I think this group is important for other struggling parents. However, I'm signing off from GreatSchools, as I explain below:

community.greatschools.net/groups/11554/discussion/157805

I hope all your children thrive & flourish.

Actually, Denali, when the Cedu schools closed the kids were not stranded in rural Idaho. Staff stayed with the kids until parents came for them. The actual closing of the schools, with the last child out, took 10 days. Staff stayed on, without pay.
The Cedu schools were struggling for a while. Their flagship school in Idaho, RMA, closed several months earlier, signallling to parents that there was trouble. That said, the corporation was totally unethical, taking in new kids right up to the time of closure.
I know the CEDU schools well. My daughter attended BCA, one of the schools in Idaho. It had its pluses and minuses. The teachers were wonderful with my daughter. BCA specialized in working with LD kids who had also a clinical profile. The therapeutic part of the program was not wonderful. After 17 months at BCA my daughter left BCA and went to a transition program, also in Idaho, in the same community. There she received the clinical help she needed. The problems I saw with Cedu was their lack of understanding of mental illness, especially for the kids at BCA. To this day, I wonder if my daughter would have been better off in a residential treatment center.
By the way, I was referred to BCA by an ed consultant, therapist and her wilderness program. It is so tough for parents to make these choices, when you do not know what is out there. One thing I know now. For profit and the best interest of the child do not mix!

Hi, I'm Denali (same ol' Denali from SchwabLearning). I have 3 children, 2 stepsons aged 30 & 28, and a daughter who is 19. One of my stepsons finally went to rehab when he was in hs mid-20s, and has be sober and very active in youth/young adult AA ever since.

I began following the therapeutic school industry closely in March of 2005, when the CEDU chain of schools closed abruptly, leaving kids stranded in remote rural locations.

My interest arose out of my experience being a board member for several private (gen.ed, non-therapeutic) schools. I was astonished that a chain could collapse in that way.

Therapeutic schools can be a life-saver, as Jisper and empeg1 have demonstrated. In my personal life, I know several families who have sent a child to a therapeutic program with good results.

But the industry as a whole is unregulated, and has some really abusive programs heavily marketed to panicked parents.

I regard my future contributions to this group as drawing on the knowledge I've gleaned over the past 3 years of study.

Hi Jisper: My 20 year old daughter is a graduate of therapeutic programs. She also has LD and ADJD-I. My daughter began to tumble in her freshman year in HS. By Nov. of her sophmore year, my girl was in crisis, skipping school, involved in high risk behavior, attempted suicide, a run away, cutting. I was frantic. Our county mental health program assessed her as being unsafe at home; our SD concurred. After 2 months at a very good therapeutic wilderness program, my daughter went to a residential program where she flourished. Before graduation my daughter entered a transition program, attending public HS. My girl, after years of not getting what she needed in our local SD found a supportive place, teachers who saw her strengths and a chance to flourish. After HS, she has worked full time and now will start college in the Fall, in Colorado. I think in anticipation of this challenge, my daughter is struggling some now, but her mom is far more savvy. I realize that the process of getting better is one with ups and downs. I am proud of my daughter for all that she has accomplished.