Akron Children’s Behavioral Health program ‘saved my son’s life’

The Schantz family pictured together on a summer vacation.

Paige Schantz’s life was picture perfect – married to her childhood sweetheart and mother of 2 healthy boys with a loving home – until one day her world turned upside down.

“Everyone came downstairs preparing to head off to school like we always did and found my husband had committed suicide … just like that our lives changed forever,” said Paige Schantz, radiological technologist at Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley. “My older son was in college and seemed to cope, but my younger boy, Griffin, was 13 and found it very difficult to adapt to life without his dad.”

Griffin began showing signs of depression and anxiety. He was refusing to go to school and withdrew from his friends. Paige tried to talk with her son about his feelings, but it was clear he needed more. She reached out to the school for help, talked with doctors, tried therapy and counseling, but nothing seemed to work.

“He withdrew from everyone and everything, especially playing sports, which he always enjoyed doing with his dad,” said Paige. “I couldn’t get him to go to school. I had police escort him; I had tutors come to our house; we tried online schooling, but nothing was working. I realized it wasn’t just his grades that were slipping, he was, too.”

Watching her son struggle to cope with the enormous loss of his father was concerning, and it seemed she was running out of options available to help him.

Paige and her boys navigate life and find healthy ways to cope without their husband/father.

“I knew he needed help and I didn’t know what else to do so we came into the ER a lot. He was admitted twice, with minimal success…I’d walk away feeling hopeless,” said Paige. “After another visit to the ER, a caring and sympathetic PIRC [Psychiatric Intake Response Center] counselor suggested we talk with a male counselor and that’s when something shifted. Griffin related to him in a way he hadn’t done with anyone up to that point.”

With the number of absences still racking up at school, Paige recognized Griffin needed more than the weekly sessions offered by his counselor. A nurse from the PIRC team recommended the partial hospitalization program at Akron Children’s as a next step for Griffin.

“I was excited about the program because it would count toward Griffin’s attendance at school, while providing him an opportunity to see other kids in similar situations finding a way or a reason to cope,” said Paige.

While the program was a good fit for what Griffin needed emotionally, the drive to Akron from Mahoning Valley each day was not ideal.

“The program was only offered at the Akron campus so I had to take a week of vacation in order to get him back and forth. He was there for seven hours each day so I would stay in Akron and wait for him,” said Paige. “I would have loved for him to stay in the program for two weeks, but logistically it wasn’t possible for us. The week he had in the program, though, absolutely saved my son’s life.”

The nature of the program allowed Griffin to go home each night rather than stay in a psychiatric inpatient unit. The day program provided intense therapies to help Griffin improve his functioning, coping skills and mental status. It also offered time for academic studies that counted towards his school attendance but, unlike school, he met with a group of kids who were also struggling.

“The program offered him art and music therapy, yoga, 1-1 counseling and group therapy. He never really talked about his feelings after his dad passed away so sharing in those group sessions with other kids like him made him not feel as alone,” said Paige. “Knowing how much the program (partial hospitalization) helped my son, I can tell you first-hand that having access to this program right here, in our local community, is huge. It’s an extraordinary service.”

Griffin (top) smiles with his mom, Paige, and brother for a family photo.

More room for mental health services in Mahoning Valley 

In December, Akron Children’s will open a new Behavioral Health Center on its Beeghly campus in Boardman. The center will provide more space to care for kids and teens with emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders. It will offer 9 individual therapy rooms and large group meeting spaces for psychiatric services. Starting Jan. 7, the center will also offer the partial hospitalization program to better serve kids.

“At the time, my teenager was facing real, adult problems, but he didn’t have the perspective needed to cope. The loss of a parent is difficult for an adult, so it was especially hard for my son to deal with those emotions,” said Paige. “If me telling Griffin’s story helps someone else know where to go for help or to not feel alone then it’s worth it to talk about what my family has gone through.”

Today, Griffin has transitioned back into high school, is receiving high marks on his report card and has reconnected with his friends. He’s already been accepted to Youngstown State University where he’ll be studying sports medicine or education this fall.

“It’s all pretty amazing coming from a kid who wouldn’t or couldn’t go to school,” added Paige.

The new Mahoning Valley Behavioral Health Center is under construction at 6614 Southern Boulevard, Building E on the hospital’s Beeghly campus in Boardman. The center is hosting a community open house on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon where visitors can tour the new space and enjoy family entertainment and light refreshments.