When her daughter Destiny posts suicidal thoughts on social media, Jackie Gettings says it’s serious.
“Destiny has attempted suicide twice since we’ve been back in B.C.,” Gettings said. “We’ve only been back in B.C. since June.”
On a mental health warrant, police took the 15-year-old to Ridge Meadows Hospital. Gettings says she begged hospital staff for stabilization to help the drug-addicted, mentally-ill teen.
The next day, Destiny was discharged by a psychiatrist.
“Destiny was seen by the psychiatrist,” Gettings said. “I was told that I would be called to provide information. I was never called.”
For Gettings, it was a case of history repeating itself with Fraser Health.
In September, Destiny was also discharged from Abbotsford Regional Hospital despite her mother’s same desperate plea. Soon after, the troubled teen went missing for several days.
Global News contacted Fraser Health asking why Destiny was getting discharged within 24 hours once again, this time without the psychiatrist even speaking with her mother.
“In this particular case there was a distance that the parent had to travel and the parent chose not to attend,” said Dr. Roy Morton of the Fraser Health Authority.
Morton added minors are rarely ever discharged without the psychiatrist consulting the guardian or parent first. He adds that if a minor is discharged after a full 24-hour assessment they are fully equipped with the resources available in the community.
Gettings said she had offered to travel from Abbotsford to Maple Ridge to consult with the psychiatrist, but the only call she received was from a social worker telling her Destiny had been discharged and needed to be picked up. She also says Destiny was discharged after only a 12-hour stay.
Getting also questions the effectiveness of community resources when placed in the hands of a minor. She wonders why Fraser doesn’t simply err on the side of caution by stabilizing a minor who was threatening suicide.
Unable to bring her daughter home without the proper treatment, she was forced to make a call.
“Yesterday was probably the worst day of my life,” Gettings said. “My daughter isn’t stable enough to be at home with her younger sister. So I had to make a choice.”
By refusing to bring Destiny home, Gettings hoped she’d be sent to a mental health facility. Instead, her daughter was sent to a group home, a system currently under scrutiny after several teens in the ministry’s care have taken their own lives.
“I need to get her out of that place as soon as possible,” Gettings said.
She is trying to scrape together enough cash to put Destiny into private treatment. She is worried if that doesn’t happen soon the system will fail her one final time.
-With files from John Hua
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