Saving Sammy

In 2005, we were overjoyed to adopt our son Sammy from Kazakhstan. In the years since, we've had many of the same joys and struggles as other parents.  However, since elementary school Sammy has presented with challenging behaviors that have become more extreme during middle school and throughout his first year of high school.   

In the past two years we have had to hospitalize Sammy twice for increasingly dangerous behaviors related to several mental health diagnoses.  Due to his mental health issues, we were forced to transfer Sammy to an NYC District 75 special education school for children who have been deemed to be "emotionally disturbed" by the Board of Education.   

We have been treating his mental health issues since the age of four with therapy and consults with different psychologists and a psychiatrist, in addition to utilizing various social services offered in NY.    Despite his medication and our desperate efforts to find help for Sammy, things have increasingly deteriorated.  His violent emotional outbursts are frequent and can last for hours.  His coping behaviors can be dangerous and have led him to engage in illegal activities with little regard for his safety, the safety of others, and financial consequences.  

In our research for treatment options, we have  continually come back to sending Sammy to a therapeutic boarding school in southern Utah.  It is not a wilderness program.  It is a 10-month therapeutic treatment program combined with  an approved high-school academic curriculum.   The treatment at this school includes weekly family therapy via Skype, as well as individual and group therapy sessions with staff psychologists, and medication management with a staff psychiatrist in conjunction with Sammy's current psychiatrist.   He will continue to take his medication and will be provided with intensive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which all studies have shown to be the most effective treatment option with the best chance for a positive outcome.

The program and related costs will run approximately $75,000 for the 10-month program, which is the recommended length.  Between loans and family resources we have been able to raise almost $15,000, leaving a shortfall of approximately $60,000.   We recognize this is a large sum of money, however, the urgency to get help for our increasingly ill son has left us with no other choices.  All other options have been fully exhausted.

We thank you for your consideration and assistance.

Love, Rachel and Jay


Here is Sammy during one ambulance trip


Here is a note Sammy left on his door that, in conjunction with dangerous behavior, led to a second hospitalization. 



Sammy, on a good day, working as a dog walker.