First of all this is an uncomfortable review to wr...

First of all this is an uncomfortable review to write because I am sure there are many very talented and life-saving physicians treating very sick kids at Children's. However, my experience in trying to find behavioral/psychological services for my teenage son was so awful that I have to alert others.

First if you are in my position you already know how hard it is to find services, especially if you are low-income. I spent an entire day (6 solid hours) talking to Children's and encountered the same compartmentalization, bureaucratic attitude, misinformation and lack of compassion from multiple people.

I will tell you what I learned as for me it was a wasted day and there is no sense in anyone else going through that. First, I had called there about a year ago looking for an Asperger's assessment. I was told the wait was two and a half years. I could not believe my ears. That is ridiculous! So i had completely ruled out Children's for any services. But then a therapist told me she had a client who got her son in for behavioral treatment in two months (still ridiculous but not insane) so I thought I'd try again.

I was really surprised and pleased when I was given an appointment in just a few days. But then over the course of the day and talking to various people it turned out that the appointment i was given was in their medical unit for medical problems. This despite me being very clear about the reason I called and what I was looking for. My son already has a primary physician and I was told all that a referral would be given us for psychological/behavioral issues. I explored getting those referrals on the phone but no one knew any so i just cancelled the appointment.

Next I started looking for a parenting support group and I was sent to Parent's Smart which after four transfers I learned was a referral source for parents with physically ill children.

Then I started pursuing talking to someone directly in the behavioral or psyche units. They were so compartmentalized: nurses, social workers, operators, volunteers that no one has any idea what other departments are doing. At one point I asked a nurse if she could just call another unit and ask what services were available and she was very snippy and hung up on me. Finally I was sent to Rita Brinkman an insurance expert at Children's. (she was really awful) who told me that my son was not covered for services. I had already spoken to the insurer and been informed that he was. I repeatedly asked for e-mails confirming what I was being told but everyone refused. I also was told I would get calls from other people, but never did.

I would say that the infrastructure of the hospital is so disjointed and populated by really uncaring people that any treatment experience there other than medical would be terrible.

One of the reviews on this site is written my a doctor who was also disgusted by the treatment he got there as a prospective patient. The only nice woman I talked to all day was an employee who after trying to get her teenage son treatment there took him somewhere else. I think that says it all.

Good luck and keep trying.