5 stars

nietzsche754 05/16/2012

I was a client at Laurel Heights for 9…

I was a client at Laurel Heights for 9 months back in 1999-2000 and today I have two graduate degrees and work in the healthcare field myself. The trick to Laurel Heights though is that they can only help children/teens who want to change their own behavior, their parents desire for their behavior to change is not enough. I attended high school an extra year when I got out to be able to go to college because of accreditation issues however I had no issues with that because I resolved my other issues first. Parents who would not send their kids to Laurel Heights over that issue need to ask themselves what the odds are their kids will graduate high school anyway without getting help. The staff here are great with their clients. They do not have "attitude" issues but it's also not their job to give parents daily updates they have weekly visitation hours during which parents can come visit their children and see progress for themselves. With only 3-4 staff on duty in a unit on a daily basis they may be busy controlling clients throwing furniture, cutting their wrists etc. they really aren't lazy they just don't have time to sit on the phone and gab. In terms of what I gained from my experience beyond what I came for I learned a great deal about people of other races and religious backgrounds and that really helped to prepare me for the real world. I also found the brothers and sisters I always wanted and never had growing up and true to my promise to them I never forgot any of them although we might have lost touch as I was going through other placements. In fact in grad school many times when I wanted to give up it was my promise to them that was able to keep me going as we all made a pact that if we were successful we'd use that influence to bring attention to issues we faced. Just felt the need to defend a great institution in the community.

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1 stars

nonameidentifie… 03/04/2012

Very poor communication with parents.

Very poor communication with parents. Staff does not often get back to parents, parents get different feedback on child's behavior/progress depending on whom they speak with, so there is no confidence in information provided. Lack of follow-through by unit staff. Some therapists are good and others are very poor (not reviewing patient charts/files prior to family therapy sessions, rendering sessions useless). Psychiatrist good. School poor, with no significant consequences if students don't complete assignments for our child. Personal items lost or missing and medicine not given as directed on several occasions. Need to stay on top of things if you send your child here.

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2 stars

Abigail Krieger 05/26/2011

Therapy good, communication/school BAD

Provided by Citysearch

My 16 year old daughter seems to be making some good progress at LHH however I am basing this on what she tells me since I don't get regular updates from docs and therapists. The communication with staff has been difficult to non-existent. I call regularly for updates and get treated as a nuisance. Some staff have big attitude problems and seem to feel attacked when approached with any questions. Return phone calls and emails can take over a week! Met with the principal of the ""accredited"" school to write a 504 Plan. They informed me my daughter wouldn't be receiving any high school credits since they just pick and chose GPS to teach at random. When I addressed questions such as certification, accreditation, and best practices I was met with silence and blank stares. My daughter has related stories of staff being rude and disrespectful to her, but that's her side so I don't know what actually occurred. I do know it takes them a VERY long time to distribute her belongings/mail to her and that some items have been misplaced while awaiting check in. All in all, she's content there so I am satisfied for now. If she wasn't showing any progress I would run for the hills.

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