Maybe some parents just don't know what to do. What do you think would have been helpful?

I became very cynical about the mental health system with my younger son. I adopted him as a teen and spent years dragging him to therapists and psychiatrists and giving him pills. Nothing helped.

I also attended the parent support group meetings at the mhc. Most of the parents had serious issues of their own. I can only think of one family in which the children hadn't been abused and mistreated when they were very young. In that family, the younger child was autistic and his older sister was depressed and had substance abuse issues. I wondered if growing up with a disabled younger sib hadn't contributed to her problems.

The parents/grandparents were sincere in wishing to help their children. In all cases the kids were away from their abusers. But much of the discussion was about which meds weren't working and what meds to try next.