The CRCG

The next step, before we can place Logan in a group home, is to have his case come before a Community Resource Coordination Group (CRCG).  These groups serve 250 counties in Texas, and they are made up of representatives from different state agencies, such as the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR), the Department of Housing, and private service providers.  While this is not a complete list of the agencies involved with the group, it should give you and idea of what the group is made up of.  CRCGs exist to help meet the needs of individuals who cannot be serviced by just one specific group.  Logan's needs cannot be met by MHMR alone, although they are the facilitating agency for what will happen next.

The CRCG meets once a month, and they discuss several cases in the meeting.  While his service coordinator told me that I didn't really need to be at the meeting, I have it on good authority from Tarrant County MHMR that it's a good idea to be there so you can explain your home situation firsthand, instead of someone doing it for you.  (I mean, that's a no-brainer, right?  Any time your child is involved in something, you should be there!)

Perhaps you're wondering how I can be so matter-of-fact about all of this.  In the past several months we have watched Logan's behavior and ability to cope in stressful situations deteriorate to the point that he needs specialized care.  There is no manual for raising a child like him, no rule book, and even if I had someone standing next to me who had a child like him, their experience would still be vastly different from mine.  As we have moved from one crisis to the next, I have seen doors that I thought I should open stay shut to us, and other doors fall open as if by some miracle.  (Actually, in a lot of cases, it was.)  Through it all the answer has been very clear:  I'm not the one guiding this.  I'm playing a part.  Heavenly Father has something very specific in mind for Logan, and even if I put my foot down, and said, no way, he's not going...he would end up going, whether I wanted him to or not.  Frustrating the will of the Lord is not a good thing; there are so many unforseen consequences.  It's a little like stealing something that doesn't belong to you:  you may have gotten what you wanted, but the joy of possessing it is somehow diminished by the knowledge that you did something you weren't supposed to do, that you knew what was right and chose to ignore it, and by the eventual burden that only a guilty conscience can bring.

The CRCG is simply the next step on this journey.  In the meantime, we are living one day at a time, with the knowledge that sooner rather than later, he will go to live somewhere else and our time with him in our home is limited.  If you think that is stressful and creates a lot of daily heartache, then you would be correct.  It's only alleviated by the fact that prayer has given me so much comfort, and by the fact that Logan himself has come to me, in the midst of one of his upset and anxious episodes, and expressed a desire for something different.

The best and truest way to live your life is by doing it according to what Heavenly Father has planned for you.  Trying to sort things out, all by yourself, is laudable, but it's by praying and asking for direction and reassurance that the decisions you've made are correct that you receive a testimony of an eternal plan that applies specifically to you and those you love.