Questions to ask a Program during COVID-19
It is not a matter of if, but when a program will have to deal with COVID-19 exposure. It could be an incoming client, or current staff, but regardless families need to know what the protocols are to ensure their loved ones’ safety. If your child needs treatment, now is the best time to enroll. But this is a tricky time too. How do you know if a program is being honest about their exposure? How can you guarantee that your loved one stays safe? If a program guarantees anything, I would be wary. If they are open to a realistic dialogue and want to share information with you based on the questions you ask, you may want to know which questions are imperative to ask!
When a family hires me to help them find a mental health or addiction treatment, I provide a list of potential questions they can ask each program when they call. The only caveat that I give is that they need to select the eight most important questions they need to know, and they must ask the same questions to both programs. If they don’t it’s comparing apples to oranges when looking at program options. Now with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an addendum to the list of questions I typically share with families.
Whereas before topics asked around financials, communication, tech access, and family therapy might be top of the list of what is important to ask. Now, families are stalled by asking questions around the safety to their child. Here are the top ten questions I would ask if you were looking at treatment programs now:
Have you had any current or former clients (or staff) that have tested positive for COVID-19? If yes, what were the steps you took after learning about this?
Are you currently admitting new clients? If yes, how often are you admitting new residents, and do you have restrictions on admissions from certain geographic regions?
What are the restrictions on modes of transportation to get to your program?
What will the first two weeks look like for my child once they enroll?
What are the accommodations and access to communication during the quarantine transition?
What are your current (as of this morning) protocols surrounding COVID-19, for day-to-day programming?
If there is a confirmed case while my child is enrolled, how and when will I be notified?
Does your program have financial security to handle a dip in milieu and/or if there is a confirmed case on-site and you lost admissions from it?
If you shut your program down, what is the refund policy and timeline for current participants?
Can you speak to the local hospital and medical capacity in your community?
Adding a “pandemic” category to my list of questions to potentially ask programs for parents is a still very new to me. Without hiring a Therapeutic Consultant, by at least having these questions you are armed with attempting to secure the safety of your loved one. By no means can a Consultant guarantee your child’s safety, but they can certainly steer you away from some programs who are being dishonest about their exposure, implementing haphazard protocols, and those who are making false promises by providing COVID-19 testing. Those tests are not readily available, so do not believe a program in telling you they are providing that. It is like hearing from a Warden that they are providing PPE for inmates. Do not believe it to be true.
If your child needs to be in treatment, now is the time. Do not wait. Be cautious in seeking out treatment. Ask typical questions yet know to ask direct questions regarding COVID-19 and programmatic protocols. If they cannot answer your questions, be concerned. It is one thing to enroll your loved one in a treatment program right now. It is another to enroll them in a program that’s a petri dish inviting COVID-19.
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
