Nathan is Gone

After weeks of Nathan's status turning and twisting in the bureaucratic winds of public education, we received that dreaded piece of paper. My principal summoned me to her office and handed me the document. It was a Request for Records form. Nathan's name was at the top of the sheet and the location of the school was in another state far away. It appears that he's moving back to the state where he spent his toddler years. So that was it. Ironically, my district had just figured out how to transport Nathan back to our school; it only took about 6 or 7 weeks. A bus went to his shelter to pick him up and the family had moved out over the weekend. He's another kid that was a challenge and just when we poured our resources into him and saw a positive change, he moved away. Simply heartbreaking.

BBC

Nathan is Homeless

Something that I've been dealing with for a couple of weeks now is Nathan's homeless situation. It started suddenly when his mother notified the school that she had been evicted. Nathan missed a couple of days of school and he was commuting from a town 20 minutes away. He was temporarily living with his uncle. Then his mother moved into a shelter, and that's where he's been since. Now he hasn't been in school for almost 3 weeks now. He stopped going to his after-school therapy because transportation wasn't available. The fact that he hasn't been to school is a huge problem, because it's against the law. Mom has no way of getting him to school in our town, and they aren't residents in the town where the shelter is. The law states that a child has a right to attend the school in the town where the family last had established residency, which would be my town. His mom went through the proper channels and made a formal request for transportation. But so far there has been a standoff between the two towns. No one knows how to transport a single child in a safe and efficient manner. There aren't any other students who need to come from the other town. There are no bus drivers available from my town. Plus, no one feels comfortable putting a 6 year old in a taxi alone for a 30 minute ride with a stranger. The case is especially sensitive when one takes into account Nathan's special needs. His label maybe ADHD, but his issues are significant. And we still don't know what is going to happen, but something has to happen soon. It still won't be soon enough for Nathan.

BBC

You Give and You Give

I received troubling news today. Nathan's mom called the school to let us know that she was evicted from her apartment and was living with her brother in another town. She also told us that she was pulling Nathan out of his therapeutic after-school program that was run by a local mental health agency. We couldn't believe it. It seemed that Nathan was starting to do really well in school because of this program, and now it looks like he won't be attending anymore. It's really discouraging when you collaborate and find resources for families and then they end up leaving the town. This has happened several times since I've started working in my school. Sometimes it isn't the family's fault; things happen that are out of their control, but sometimes parents seem to sabotage interventions when they seem to be working. It makes no sense, but it seems that when the family as a whole is not doing well, and a child is receiving some help, the parents somehow find a way to thwart the help that their child is getting. Never fails. We all suspected that Nathan's mom was sabotaging his treatment, and our fears were confirmed when the social worker called the treatment center and talked with Nathan's therapist. She said that mom called and said that she had to move in with her brother, and that she was pulling Nathan out of the program because she was enrolling him into another one and he couldn't be enrolled in two programs at the same time. We all knew that this was a lie, which did not bode well for Nathan's well-being. The thought of calling children's services and making a formal complaint of educational neglect crossed our minds, but it is early. We want to give mom a chance to get things in order. We also want to convince her to let her son stay in the program. It's a very good one, and they have a waiting list for patients. If clients miss too many sessions, they are dismissed. This program and school would provide him with the stability that he desperately needs. We hope mom will come around, for Nathan's sake.

BBC