I went to a CSE meeting with a parent today ready for war but instead what I got was something really amazing…
.. The young man that I work with needed more behavioral supports in school. Rather than paying for a slightly more restrictive environment, a school administrator said we should pursue a more restrictive out of district environment. “We can keep him in-district but that would just be a Band-Aid; he needs a program that can give him more attention than we can provide”. Cue the applause sign!
Sometimes before someone needs a more intensive service we do things that are cheaper or they need to “fail” at first. For instance in substance abuse treatment, one needs to fail at outpatient before they can be offered inpatient. To quote a line from one of my favorite Phish songs, “It’s a little bit like trying to cure a gunshot wound with gauze.” Sometimes we are not able to “stop the bleeding” and what they really need is the Intensive Care Unit. I applaud the supervisors, administrators, and macro social workers who are finding proactive ways to not just “provide a Band-Aid”. Let’s continue to challenge ourselves to not just provide “Band-Aids” but offer meaningful services to those we serve.
