Ann's Story Part 29: The resuts of the meeting

March 5 1:52pm
To my friend

I am so anxious. The meeting was this morning at 10:00...and I have not heard anything yet. I know this is reasonable. It is possible (though unlikely) that they are still at it. The agency people may be lunching with Mandy and John so as to smooth over hard feelings. Or there might be another meeting that Ruby had to go to.

Still...it is 1:51 and I can think of nothing else.

the next morning another letter to my friend:

The team met. Mandy and John’s request was denied...Ann will not be sent to the quack clinic. They were asked if there was any possibility that they could not have so many children in the home, and they said no. Ann will be sent to the local psychiatric tester guy. Ann has a court eval on record which was done shortly after she punched J which said that Ann was clinically depressed and should be moved to a quieter home. Everyone agreed that she needed a new eval. Mandy and John were asked if they would accept whatever the doctor advised, and they avoided the question.

People agreed that Ann should have a regular weekly visit with Mandy and John. They have suggested Monday evenings.

So we are back to a steady situation. Ann is not being moved now, but Mandy and John still want to get her back.

And the next day:

Ruby came over last evening to explain to Ann what had happened. Ann will spend every other weekend and every Monday evening with Mandy and John. Eventually the neuro-psychologist will do his extensive testing on her. This will include the standard inventories along with the tests given to diagnose learning disabilities. He will also just talk with her about her life and will probably interview us and Mandy and John.

That information will go to the agency people, but also the state people. Placement decisions are no longer in the agency's hands. Any placement decision will be made by the state. This is the result of Mandy and John’s agitating, but it may not be in their best interests. The team apparently brought up the suggestion that Ann might be put up for adoption. Mandy was very distressed by this as it would sever all contact with her. Ann's state social worker will be coming to town on Tuesday to review everything and she will stop by here to meet with Ann. Ann has not seen her in years.

Anyway, Ruby says that the neuro-psychologist gets the testing done quickly, once he gets started, but that it can take six months to get to the top of the list. The doctor has a contract with the region, but that may not cover Ann. That could be to her advantage, because if she has to go as a private patient she may get in faster.
It is hard to figure out just what Ann thinks or feels about all this. When Ruby was here Ann was rolling on the floor and crying saying she wanted to go home. But the "crying" was very theatrical. Ruby had to stop over and over again to wait for Ann to be quiet so she could give her the information. After she finally got that entire story she seemed to be fine. I used to think that I had a clearer sense of what Ann thought and felt, but now I do not. I think that is because Ann does not really know. She is attached to Mandy and I think she has mostly been happier here. Saying that she is happier here and would rather not live there is not something that she can give herself permission to say. I do think that living here and visiting Mandy would be the best solution for Ann, but that is not in my hands.

So now I have to deal regularly with Mandy. We have already exchanged a couple of emails working out Ann's visiting schedule. We are dealing with each other directly, and I am nervous about not having the Ruby-buffer. If I do not give Mandy everything that she wants she will get angry...at least that is what I am afraid of. Of course Ruby would step in and help me if things get too tense

Part 30