PLease give me some advice

I posted this on another part to but I'm not sure where it belongs and I need advice. Sorry if I shouldn't have posted it 2ce.!

will checkk back tonight when I get off work but my husband is having trouble. First he put in a request to change counselors like 2-3 months ago still he has heard nothing. He has real problems with his counselor and he feels like his rights have been violated for many reasons. Today he was on hold to see the director of the clinic bc he owed $27 he was going to pay $10 and then I work a double today so we were going to pay it all off tomorrow which is normal at my clinic he patiently waited outside her office for 30 min while she ran in and out doing various things then she came out and said she had to do payroll he had to wait about 2 hours well I had to get ready for work and we just couldn't wait so he left without dosing and is going to go back when he takes me to work luckily he has the day off otherwise he wouldnt have the option of going back. But how can she put him on hold and then say well I can't see you for 2 hours we have lives we have to work to pay for this stuff no one has 2 hours to wait for her to be free. This has happened to him several times that someone put him on hold be it for a drug test or missed apt or whatever and then is not available to see him, I understand needing a few minutes even 30 as I said but to not be available for 2 hours and not let him be able to dose isn't that almost like withholding treatment. Anyways does anyone have any ideas about how to handle this or how do you file a grievance if the problem is with the clinic director? He has been a patient for 15 months or so and we just had a problem paying the ;ast couple weeks I got suspended for 2 weeks and I had talked to her about it personally for me and him a week ago I am back at work now and trying as hard as I can to get caught back up with everything but sometimes life happens and we can't afford to miss our jobs because she needs 2 hours before she can get to us. Please help !!!

Wow. Sounds like you guys are really having some probs w/his counselor. I am sorry you are having to go through this. It's a very hard situation to deal with and to know the best way to handle it.

Without having a little more detail about specific instances, it is hard to say what may really be going on here. Having said that, you said he feels like his rights have been violated. If his rights have been violated, then you do not need to but if you request a different couselor, and there is another counselor to transfseriously consider taking steps to file a complaint. I suggest going over the FEDERAL REGULATIONS section on our website at http://www.medicalassistedtreatment.org/51011/index.html to determine if this is the case. You also need to check the guidelines for your specific state also because in addition to FEDERAL regs there are STATE regs as well.

If he has had his rights vioated, he could file a complaint. He might even get the desired results from filing a complaint.....BUT!!!....keep in mind that even though it isn't suppose to happen, there are instances where the client has been retaliated against because they made a complaint and it just makes things a whole lot worse. So you need to weigh the pros and the cons before you take that step.

Is there someone else at the clinic that you think you could talk to about this? Another counselor, the clinic manager, the clinic doctor? ANYONE else besides this counselor that he is having the problem with?

When he asks them what is the status on hisrequest, what do they tell him?

I don't know how feasable this would be, but have you thought about transferring clinics?

I know this is not an easy situation to be in and I am sorry you guys are having such a bad time, just know that we are here for you and will help out in any way that we can.

Hang in there and keep us posted on what's going on.

Good point Cat.......I was concentrating on the other stuff and forgot to say something about owing fees. If they want to, they can actually detox you for owing them ANY amount of money so again, if you decide to file a complaint, make sure you have ALL your dots dotted and t's crossed because if they are one of those clinics that are going to "get back" at you for complaining, they will look for anything they can to punish you even if it means you only owe them 10 bucks. Also like Cat said, they don't have to transfer your stuff if you owe them a balance so you would have that problem to deal with if you did have to transfer.

Please keep us updated and let us know what is going on.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'being on hold'.
I know clinics are pretty anal about making appointments and at my clinic a person can't usually just walk in without an appointment and expect to get seen.
The two counselors I spoke with were both very explicit about appts and being late for them etc.How that would count against an individual as it shows a lack of responsibility or accountability on the clients part.That's what I was told anyway.
Also yes,the money thing.The clinic's been ok being late a couple of times,but doesn't allow that to go on constantly-that also counting against the client.

If your rules are similar that could be the problem.Be sure to ask the next counselor their policy on appts.lateness and late fees becuase a 'feetox' is no fun and chronic late payments could result in that.