FUNDING OPTIONS How do you pay for psychological & psychiatric services? An even bigger expense is paying for residential treatment but if your child needs these services they are important enough to take out a second mortgage on your house or to use your child s college fund to pay for these services. If your child gets back on the right track he or she can get a job and pay for his or her own college education or take out loans or get a scholarship. But they need your help now and if they don t get the help they need they may not survive long enough to get to college or get locked out of college because they are locked up. Many insurance companies pay for psychiatric and psychological services and some pay all or part of a child s stay in residential treatment depending on their policies, the length of stay, the level of care, and the issues your child requires services for. You may be able to get your local school district to pay for your child s residential treatment if it is clear that he or she needs residential treatment and the school district is unable to provide the type of care needed. The school district does not want to pay for these services so it may be a battle to get them to pay for them. If you are looking for low cost psychological services for your child you may want to check with your local community mental health center. A number of clinics offer a sliding fee scale for therapy and some of them have masters or doctorate level counseling students working who would be happy to provide low cost therapeutic service as part of their training. Community mental health centers are also a good place to find out about other mental health resources in your area. You may also want to contact the Department of Mental Health in your region or your Counties Department of Children and Family Services. I have listed a few options for you below hoping that one or more of these resources will provide you with the funding assistance you need. Clark Behavioral Health Financing When faced with the challenge of paying for private healthcare, you deserve to have choices. Clark Behavioral Health Financing (CBHF) can help you find a financial solution. Let us put the pieces together so that you can focus on what s most important the health and happiness of you and your family. We offer customized financing plans for Treatment Centers; Transitional Living Facilities; Wilderness Programs; Eating Disorder Clinics; Drug or Alcohol Rehab, Weight Loss; Inpatient and Out Patient Services and More Phone: (888) 755-3079 Fax: (208) 676-1702 Web: www.customedloans.com Email: team@clarkbhf.com American Healthcare Lending Web: https://www.americanhealthcarelending.com Phone: 1 (800) 625-7412 X2
Serenity Loans While I believe that they are a company whose specialty may be in or related to health care, I am sending this to you to encourage you to talk with them in case they are in a position to leverage their company to extend this option to traditional boarding and/or day schools as well. Contact Justin Roman of Serenity Loans at 310-717- 9619 or try (801) 938-3605. The website is www.serenityloans.com Cornerstone Education Loans - Elizabeth Ellison Elizabeth@cornerstoneedloans.com 877-260- 2403 Begun 1980, helps families find the best K- 12 private student loan possible Youth Education Fund info@youtheducationfund.org 800-969- 2213 Tax- free Tuition solutions for at- risk youth Hope Renews Hope Renews, a not-for-profit organization which serves parents of struggling teens, is excited to launch its new website, www.hoperenews.org. The new site supports parents in three ways. First, it helps parents locate and secure funding for their child's treatment. Second, it gives parents an online community for exchanging ideas, resources and advice. Finally, it presents up-to-date news on issues about adolescent residential treatment. "Parents with teens in trouble have told us over and over that they need guidance on securing funding from local school districts, insurance reimbursements and loan programs," says President Cathy Gilson. "They are frightened because their kids are in trouble. They have no idea how much treatment costs, or how to pay for it. This site addresses the needs of these families in crisis. It puts them in touch with other families, who are facing similar challenges." Scott Cargle Project Director (310) 775-8474 scottcargle@gmail.com www.hoperenews.org Insurance Reimbursement Denials Management Inc. (The Claims Solution People) Our 35+ years of healthcare claim experience coupled with our tools, the training and support we provide has made us the #1 Denials Management solution on the market and the vendor of choice for our Claims Management services. Our Services: 1. Denial Management Services 2. Contract Audit Services 3. Refund Request Processing Services
4. Third Party Lien Services 5. Credit Balance Processing Services Tom Shroeder Vice President of Sales & Marketing Denials Management, Inc. 1459 East 3900 South Salt Lake City, UT 84124 Toll- Free: 866-322- 0787, ext. 212 http://www.claimsmgt.com Tom.Shroeder@denialsmgt.com Children's Help and Assistance for Residential Treatment [CHART] CHART s mission is to reduce the financial burden for families of adopted children, between the ages of 9-13, with major depressive disorders and mood disorders, who require residential treatment services, by providing funding and education for families of these children. C.H.A.R.T.- Children's Help and Assistance for Residential Treatment maryannchart@msn.com 520-749- 2151 Begun 2006 ; national non- profit organization to assist families with adopted children(az & CO) with S.M.I. 9-13 years old fund placement in an RTC. Goals: provide knowledge of appropriate RTC, emergency funds, information on state and local funding programs, and family education Saving Teens In Crisis Collaborative Saving Teens In Crisis Collaborative (STICC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in April of 2004 to assist troubled teens and their families struggling with substance abuse and other emotional issues. STICC works with health organizations, educational consultants, wilderness programs, boarding schools, rehabilitation centers and educational lawyers to fund and support these families as they complete the comprehensive therapeutic programs that they desperately need, but did not know about and could not afford. By leveraging the expertise and generosity of dedicated professionals, caring institutions, other charities, government institutions and altruistic individuals, STICC guides children and their families toward a brighter future. John D. Reuben, Founder and President Phone: (877) 249-1336 Web: www.savingteens.org Email: information@savingteens.org Friends of Families with Children in Crisis The Foundation's purpose is to provide financial assistance to families where a lack of financial resources jeopardizes a student's continued enrollment. The Foundation is focused on helping
families with both parents/guardians who are committed to participating in their children's education/programs and students who are diligently progressing in those programs. The Foundation will allocate a majority of its aid in the form of collateralized loan guarantees for the benefit of families who do not qualify under conventional loan programs. The Foundationbacked loans will be granted with competitive interest rates and will not require any collateral from benefited families. The typical loan will have a 15 year repayment terms. Phone: 951.315.8320 Phone: 951.317.3151 Fax: 909.336.1942 Web: www.friendsoffamilies.org Email: info@friendsoffamilies.org Tax Info I realize that in the thought process of obtaining help for your child which is uppermost in a parent s mind, certain items may be missed. As tax filing season approaches talk with your accountant about a tax deduction because your child is enrolled in a therapeutic school. I have done some tax research and have located various tax cases which would allow the deduction of the cost of a therapeutic boarding school or therapeutic residential program as a medical expense subject to the rules of the medical expense deduction. There are two tax court cases which deal with the deduction of special schooling. The tax case of A. P. Grunwald, 51 TC 108 Dec 29,198 A psychiatrically oriented boarding school recommended by a psychiatrist who diagnosed a taxpayer s child as suffering from a severe adjustment reason of adolescence. It had a residential treatment center and a staff including psychiatrists, psychologists and a psychiatric social worker, emphasized mental hygiene and psychological guidance and designed an individual program for each student. Another case is C.F. Urbauer 63 TCM 2492. Dec 48,094 (M) TC Memo 1992-170 Parents could deduct certain amounts spent in connection with the treatment of their son for behavioral and drug problems at a college preparatory school that addressed both the educational and emotional needs of its students. Since the son attended the school principally to benefit from its medical program and the costs of his education were incidental to the special services provided by the school, his enrollment costs were deductible as a medical expense. The next largest expense for parents with children enrolled in a therapeutic boarding school is the transportation of the child on home visits and our visits during or in between parent workshops. Another case again is C.F.Urbauer 63 TCM 2492. Dec 48,094 (M) TC Memo 1992-170 Plane fare for trips to required therapy sessions were medical expenses of parents of a student at a school for treatment of behavioral and drug problems when the school costs were allowed as medical expense
Base upon the above case you may be able to consider it a medical expense the traveling of our children on home visits. This is an integral part of their therapy and therefore may be deductible. The costs of lodging and meals in the city where your child attends a therapeutic boarding school could be deductible as you are attending both medical workshops in dealing with your child and also attending therapy sessions with your son s therapists. You will need to check with your CPA as the tax code changes and not all CPA s would agree with the above assessment. Another opinion is listed below: I believe the educational expenses can be deductible if the family get a prescription and if the education the student receives is just going to be incidental to the medical and psychiatric treatment. I am still concerned about the nature of his condition and whether or not it would rise to the level the IRS considers for "needing treatment." According to Regulation 1.213-1(e)(1)(v)(a): (a) Where an individual is in an institution because his condition is such that the availability of medical care (as defined in subdivisions (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph) in such institution is a principal reason for his presence there, and meals and lodging are furnished as a necessary incident to such care, the entire cost of medical care and meals and lodging at the institution, which are furnished while the individual requires continual medical care, shall constitute an expense for medical care. For example, medical care includes the entire cost of institutional care for a person who is mentally ill and unsafe when left alone. While ordinary education is not medical care, the cost of medical care includes the cost of attending a special school for a mentally or physically handicapped individual, if his condition is such that the resources of the institution for alleviating such mental or physical handicap are a principal reason for his presence there. In such a case, the cost of attending such a special school will include the cost of meals and lodging, if supplied, and the cost of ordinary education furnished which is incidental to the special services furnished by the school. Thus, the cost of medical care includes the cost of attending a special school designed to compensate for or overcome a physical handicap, in order to qualify the individual for future normal education or for normal living, such as a school for the teaching of braille or lip reading. Similarly, the cost of care and supervision, or of treatment and training, of a mentally retarded or physically handicapped individual at an institution is within the meaning of the term medical care. Similarly I found this: Jose F. Pazos vs. Commissioner,[2] the taxpayer's dependent son was admitted to a boarding school in an effort to remove the child from a detrimental relationship with his mother and assist the child in overcoming emotional disorders that resulted in a learning dysfunction. Since the school did not offer psychiatric or psychological services to students and no psychiatric therapy or counseling was received at the school, no medical deduction was permitted. The court did agree that mental and emotional disorders which result in a learning disability can be considered a disease; however, the lack of psychiatric and psychological facilities or staff by the school precluded special school status as defined by the regulation. While the educational program was beneficial to the child's general health and well-being, such nonspecific treatment does not qualify as medical care under [sections]213. Thus I believe that so long as the school specifically offers psychiatric or psychological services to
overcome the child's emotional and learning disorder then it will qualify. Again check with your CPA since tax law changes and your son s needs may not reach the level that the IRS would consider as needing treatment. Federal Law By federal law, school districts are required to pay for special education, including private placement if the public school can't meet the student's needs. However, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Forest Grove School District is not required to reimburse private school tuition for a student with special needs because the parents enrolled the boy based on his drug abuse and behavior issues, not educational problems. In the Forest Grove case, the student never received special education services from the school district. Staff said the boy did not need the services. As a result, the parents placed him in a residential program and sought reimbursement. The decision, by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman came six months after the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to decide its merits. The high court ruled in June that the Forest Grove family was entitled to seek private tuition reimbursement, even if it didn't try school services first. But now Mosman's ruling, in effect, says the family didn't qualify. The decisive factor in this case is that T.A.'s parents appear to have enrolled T.A. in (a therapeutic residential school) not because of any disability recognized by the (federal disabilities law) but because of his drug abuse and behavior problems.