Heritage Behavioral Services Blog

Avonte Oquendo, the 14 year old with autism was declared missing on Oct. 14 2013 from his school in New York.  A school video camera captured him walking out of the school in Long Island City, NY last fall.  That was the last evidence of him seen alive. Our hope that he could be found alive  Search and Rescue Team ended last week when the DNA of remains found on the shores of a river in Queens confirmed all of  our worst fears. Our hopes for the best became our worst nightmare. Avonte would not be coming home . In the midst of this tragedy, what is/are our take home lesson(s). We are all downcast by this tragedy and overwhelmed by a sense of failure.  This is the appropriate time to take a critical look at what could be down differently to stave this type of preventable tragedy. It is also the wrong time to blame each other for what we did wrong. That is for later.  We must own up to our mistakes and take responsiblity for what went wrong. A review of the incident report from

Georgia Crisis Response System was instituted by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to provide treatment and support services to people with mental illnesses and addictive diseases, and support to people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities during crisis. The system is staffed by mental health clinicians and the service is provided 24/7. Objective: To resolve behavioral crisis promptly and professionally and to minimize hospitalization for non-medical issues in Individuals with developmental disabilities. FACTS: Any behavioral crisis that poses a safety threat to the acting out person with developmental disability or to others that cannot be resolved by caregiver must be referred to the Georgia Crisis Response System for Assistance. The calls to the center and the services are free. Structured clinical interviews are obtained by clinicians during phone calls to determine needs.  Crisis resolution is often at