I wanted to give you all an update, especially on our situation with Brian. It has been a difficult week. On Monday, we met with all of the therapists again, as well as executives from DCFS. By the end of the meeting, they all agreed that we should not bring Brian home, for safety reasons. We all decided that the best road for us to take was to do a DCFS supported "Lock-out", which is basically where we refuse to bring Brian home, once the mental hospital is ready to discharge him. So, that happened on Wednesday. The hospital knew this was our plan, and all people involved did as well. I was able to talk with Brian beforehand, to explain the situation to him.
The downside to a lock-out, is that the police have to be involved. Shortly after the process began, they called, and needed Dale and I to come to the police station, where they arrested us, and charged us with child endangerment/abandonment. We literally sat in this little holding room for 4 hours, while they tried to sort it all out. I am a document/paperwork freak, so this helped us tremendously, as I already had a packet of info prepared for both the police and the DCFS investigator. Brian was in the room across from us, and he was very agitated. We are told he tried to punch on of the officers, he destroyed some security equipment, and he took off his clothing (this is a new one). I know he was just scared.
On Monday, we go to court, to begin the Petition of Dependency process, and to ask that our charges be dropped. I have met with the asst. to the States Atty, and they have assured me that they are asking for charges to be dropped. DCFS is asking for this also, so I am fairly confident we will be ok. Brian is in a temporary placement, at a shelter in Chicago, while they try to find the best residential facility for him. We are NOT giving up our parental rights, we will still be very involved in his care and treatment. We have explained to him, that he is still our son, and we will always be there for him, he just will not live in our home.....just like his sister Brogan who is in NC, or his brother Brandon, who lives with another adoptive family. He seemed to understand this very well, and is ok with this transition.
Whew. In other news......next week will be so weird! My kid are all heading in different directions! Brittany leaves today for a mission trip with our church to Georgia. Tomorrow Rory, Meng and Toby are heading to their favorite summer camp, Camp CoCo! And Monday Keagan, Brianna, and Brownyn are heading to Camp One Way. So.....I will have only Daley at home with me all week!!!! Wow, crazy! Don't worry, I have lots of things planned. Mostly painting and cleaning. And a little date night with Dale as well!
Well, I have to get off this computer and get moving this morning. Thanks for checking in.
God bless!
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