Treatment comes at cost of custody

By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje - Express-News

http://www.mysanantonio.com/health/79138732.html

At age 5, Chrystal Rutan was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. That austere clinical label belies the havoc she created around her. She broke things, set fires, killed a family kitten.

"Think of a 2-year-old temper tantrum and multiply it times 20," said Rutan's mother, Melissa Rowlett. "We were lucky if we slept an hour at night."

Things got worse as the years passed. By middle school, Chrystal — who was born a boy and began to identify herself as a female — became even more violent, attacking peers and threatening her mother with a knife.

She became actively suicidal, cutting her wrists and even jumping out a school window.

Quote from: the article"He said, 'You have two options left,'" Rowlett recalled. "He said, 'You can let Chrystal break the law — harm you or someone else — and press charges to get her in the juvenile justice system, or you can relinquish custody.' Neither of those options did I want to hear."

While I am relieved that Medicaid was able to pay for individual psychiatric counseling sessions, a parent shouldn't be required to give up their parental rights in order for their child to get the intensive counseling that this teenager needed.

Quote from: the articleA state-run residential facility in Waco refused to take Chrystal because of her gender-identity disorder.

That, too, is messed up.  I wish the article provided more details about the facility's decision.

I don't know how seriously you take it, but set fires, killed a family kitten are two leading indicators of a an asocial, psychopathic personalty, and the killing of small animals is one of the best indicators of a future serial killer.  I'd watch them very closely.

While this child had issues beyond what I dealt with, I too had a child that I couldn't get help for without giving custody to the state. I did not relinquish parental rights however. The state did try to take that tho.

The Dr. in the facility she ended up in said that putting her up for adoption would be destructive as our family unit was "too close" emotionally.