Troubled: The Failed Promise of America's Behavioral Treatment Programs by Kenneth R. Rosen

Author:Kenneth R. Rosen [Rosen, Kenneth R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542007887
Google: raU6zQEACAAJ
Published: 2021-01-12T10:50:04+00:00

“For me, I think ASR [Academy at Swift River] was an awakening,” Avery told me. “At the time, it was, I think, where I needed to be. It helped me to understand that just because you’ve been through fucked-up things in life doesn’t make you a fucked-up person. I don’t think I could have found the strength in myself to break away from my bad habits without ASR.”

She wanted her relationship with her godmother to work. Avery hoped for the best transition possible and applied to the University of Louisiana, where she was accepted. She talked with her godmother in the days leading up to her release, sharing her anxieties, fears, worries, and goals.

As a parting gift, Carmen gave Avery a handwritten card and told her to always shine her light, to never forget the good person she was inside. With the card, Carmen included a pen with the word “Drama” circled and crossed out. She smiled at Avery and said, “Please, no more drama. Promise?” And Avery did, tucking both away into her bag. Carmen also handed Avery a one-page sheet of dos and don’ts for her return home (no smoking, no drinking, no hanging out with her old friends) and a social contract, which reaffirmed the list of dos and don’ts and outlined a curfew and plan for employment and education. She would follow a curfew. She would not go out without her godmother’s permission. She would not drink or do drugs and no “partying.” In return, her godmother promised to be more forgiving and caring. Everything was set on paper. But life isn’t on paper.

Avery went home near the summer of 2009. She hoped to integrate herself back into the family in the way she sought to integrate herself into Swift River’s program and philosophy. “You’re willing? Then I’m willing. Let’s do it,” Avery told her godmother when she was picked up at Swift River. She had a graduation like the ones she had attended. She listened to Frank’s words, which varied little, hopeful yet concerned. Soon she stepped into a car heading to the airport. Hours later, she arrived in New Orleans and drove with her godmother to their home near Slidell, Louisiana, about forty minutes northeast of New Orleans, as though it were any other day.

Neither Avery nor her godmother found it easy sticking to the case plan or social contract that Carmen had written. Their expectations did not align. Avery figured her godmother might be different and kinder to her after all that she had been through in the last two years. She hoped that her godmother had changed, having said she would do therapeutic work on her own while Avery was away. Her godmother expected that Avery would be more compliant and hoped that she would not revert to her old friendships and boys as crutches. She wanted Avery back in therapy, not because it was on the social contract and case plan but because she wanted to keep an eye on Avery.

For the first few weeks, Avery was not being combative and had found work at a local day care.

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