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In Alaska the number of children who are diagnosed with severe emotional disorders isn't huge, but if you are the parent of one of those children, getting help for them quickly becomes your whole world.
In this Break The Cycle report we feature part two of our series called Bring The Kids Home.
Bring The Kids Home is an effort started by the state to provide more treatment options for children so they don't have to leave the state to get help. And although they are making progress, there are still children whose needs cannot be met in Alaska.
Kevin and Leiani Okinello's daughter may be one of them.
Leiani says when they agreed to adopt “Jana” at age 10 they knew that she had had a rough start in life. Her mother died from aids when she was a baby, her father was in prison, and, at just ten years old "Jana" had already lived in five different homes.
What Leiani says they didn't know is just how troubled the little girl was. “She started exhibiting after about a month all this stuff started coming out and it was bizarre stuff.”
Leiani says “Jana” would go to the bathroom several times during dinner and stay there, leaving them to wonder what was going on... “But then
Jana was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, but there was more, much more. A doctor's check revealed trauma from years of physical and sexual abuse
The family embarked on a course of counseling and medication. Doctors eventually told them that “Jana” couldn't get the help she needed in Alaska. Kevin says he felt like he had broken a promise that she'd never have to move again. “I mean from what we told her when she got here, like this is gonna be it, you're home now, but she had that mind set that's all she's ever known is that she's gonna go somewhere else.”
In July of 2007 “Jana left for a treatment program in Texas and Leani says it has helped tremendously. “ They're telling us within a year and a half the progress she's made is well beyond what she left with here. It was going to be three or four years so with the help and training of the staff in Texas and the program they are operating on, she's able to come home sooner.”
And while Leinai and Kevin say they'll be thrilled when that day arrives they do have one regret, that “Jana” couldn't have gotten that help right here at home. “ I just feel like with every resource we have available.why don't we have this here..why?”
The good news is that with the help of the Bring The Kids Home initiative more programs are starting to open up in state...it's a slow process but it is allowing some children to stay here and get the treatment they need in Alaska.
Next Thursday at five we'll meet a family that has chosen to keep their little boy at home, and show you some of the services that have allowed them to do that.
To contact the Newsroom, call 907-274-1111.
