no help anywhere

[muchado]

My teenager attempted suicide at the end of last week. Spare me the judgments, spite and nasty comments everyone; I already feel bad enough. But my teen is still in hospital, a specialist one in another county from where I live- and yet there is no financial help anywhere that will enable me to make visits. I have tried everything and everyone but it is ALWAYS a no :(

Firstly, I am truly sorry to hear that your teen has made a sucide attempt.. and appreciate that you must be horribly distressed... but please do not assume people here are 'nasty and spiteful'; we aren't.. or if we are why post?

Unfortunately I think like any other specialist treatment, there are rarely funds available for travel expenses etc, families are simply expected to pick up the slack.
Long term ( tho hopefully this won't be the case) if your teen has mental health needs which continue to be severe then you would be able to apply for DLA for him/her which would help towards travel costs. In the meantime could family help out?

Oh no, so sorry to hear this Much. At least in a specialist hosp your teen should be in the best place.

Could you get emergency social fund loan? I think these are administered by your local council now. The job centre might be the place to ask or local council office.

Look after yourself too x

Eventually found some financial help; the local council having taken over the crisis loans that were formerly provided by the Social Fund. No help for me though; all the people involved with my teen don't even seem to consider the impact on me or even making any effort to keep me informed. Why should they? I am not the resident parent- so obviously I should just be kept on hand as an object of blame- if needed:(.

Have made an appointment with my GP- although beats me why NHS exclude non-resident parents from family therapy at such times. Seems like they're more than happy for me to empty my bank and bust a gut trying to keep the family afloat but they still automatically exclude me from any source of help or support :(.

Have you made it clear that you want to help Much? Sounds a bit obvious I know but they may be misinformed.

Glad you've got a GP appt. You need support too. Take care of yourself

If your teenager is under 18 and in an NHS hospital, and you are the resident parent and in receipt of UK state benefits, then you qualify for some help with fares, to attend consultations and family therapy. As the non-resident parent you should get help to visit/attend appointments with your child if the consultant judges that it's 'medically necessary' for you to be there.

Ask. There should be a hospital social worker at the hospital where your child is... They will know; or if they don't, they can find out.