Chris McNulty Interactions between PATH and Other Organizations The PA Treatment and Healing (PATH) sessions that

I attended were one piece of a childs overall treatment plan. In most cases, the children have much more detailed treatment plans worked out with the schools they attend or with the courts, if the student is court mandated to be there. Even for students who dont have more elaborate plans, PATH still has to work with the parents or foster parents, depending on the individual, to help aid them in treatment. There are a lot of moving parts to make treatment at PATH run, sometimes everything runs as it should and sometimes the councilors have to struggle to work around the very people that should be aiding in their treatment. To start, one of the key groups PATH has to work with are the parents. When this relationship runs smoothly the parents want to be as involved with the treatment as they can. Parents may not fully understand everything that is going on, but they are willing to learn and support in their home the policies implemented at PATH to further aid student healing. As part of this, they always show up to meetings and give continuous feedback on the childrens progress. The next class of parents is still somewhat involved; they show up for meetings when called, but they are not all that involved, only doing what the councilors require of them. These parents can be somewhat frustrating to work with, but they are not the worst. The next class of parents wants as minimal involvement as they can. They have their child or their foster child come to PATH, but that is it. They do not attend meetings and do not listen to the councilors suggestions about what should be done. Treatments for these cases are harder, for without reinforcement at home, some of the skills acquired at PATH will not take hold. These parents are often considered the worst to work with. There is a subclass to this type of parent however, that so far I have only seen present in foster parents. This type of parent wants nothing to do with treatment because they feel that it is PATHs job to heal the child and that the issue lies solely with the child. This kind of parent refuses to provide appropriate feedback because, from their perspective, they are the

parent and, thus, know what they are doing. For example, in the case of one foster parent, apparently she felt that housing the child was her job and treating her [Son? Daughter?] was PATHs. This subclass is the most difficult to work with in terms of treatment efficacy, as things may get worse for the client before they get better. This often involves increased acting out at home and the parent or foster parent expressing hostility with PATH staff. When the parents are not working in the best interest of the childrens health, such as the example of the last set of parents and foster parents, there is very little staff can do. They can either petition the courts or the students case workers for a removal from the home and replacement. This situation probably pops up more than it should and probably gets acted on less than it should. The courts will be very hesitant to take a child away from a family and, in the case of foster parents, the state cant afford to lose any as the ones they have are few and far between. Thus, if the city or case worker asks for a change in placement for a child who is with a subset of the last class of foster parent, and that foster parent threatens to quit, it is likely the state will fold. This means, more often than not, that PATH has to work around less-than-fit parents or foster parents and simply hope for the best. There is another issue that can arise from even great parents, and, as a result, affects the relationship between PATH and the government. This issue is that they care about their children, and, as a result, they let the child dictate parts of their treatment. While caring about the childs opinion is not a bad quality, often students dont like coming to treatment. As a result, they talk to their parent or caregiver and, occasionally, the parent or caregiver will request they be removed or transferred to another program, despite whatever positive gains that student maybe making. Again, there is very little PATH can do in this situation. They can request to the parents and case worker not to transfer the student if it is not in the best interest of the child. However, if the parent is adamant, the caseworker will follow along so as to not offend the parent. This means students who are getting the treatment they

need are getting pulled out before their treatment is complete. I understand why this happensthe government, state and national, doesnt want to be viewed as interfering with the rights of families. While this is understandable, it can cause severe damage and undo any positive gains made at PATH. At some level, parents have to understand that if they send their kids to PATH, and their councilor doesnt want them to leave, chances are they have a very good reason for it. Transitioning more to the effects that the government can have on PATH is the court system. First, courts can mandate a student attend PATH instead of prison or jail. This is fine, as they often work very closely with PATH to allow these children to attend PATH instead of serving jail time. However, these interactions are not always so positive. Sometimes the students have other legal issues that stem from confronting their attackers. When multiple parties are involved, things can get very complicated very quickly and sometimes the judge may make a potentially harmful decision, such as allowing a tormentor whom was also a victim back into the victims house without first consulting their mental health counselor. As I said, these issues are very tricky, but when dealing with a child who is receiving psychological aid, the courts should consult with their caregivers. A final thought about these interactions is that the institution is underfunded and the staff underpaid. While the staff never complain about pay, all people in this line of work are really grossly underpaid. As to lack of funding, the building that houses PATH is in disrepair, the paint is flacking off the outside walls, metal is rusted outside and new materials are few and far between, with ripped books present in the school branch of path.