Starke Behavioral Health Services

03/13/2026

A Murder Mystery Dinner we hosted to raise money to support our Happy Place Members on summer outings. New Dinner Party coming in May! Follow us for updates…tickets sell out fast!

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Murder Mystery Dinner

03/12/2026

Beware of an abandonment that has a self-interested spirit in it.

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03/12/2026

March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 💙
Let’s honor the voices, talents, and contributions of people with developmental disabilities. Inclusion isn’t optional—it’s essential. Together, we build a world where everyone belongs.

03/11/2026

The day when no one followed up… and then the day someone did.

It’s Developmental Disability Awareness Month… story time!

The first time my daughter eloped she was 18 months old. She awoke in the middle of the night, unlocked the back door, walked out, climbed the back 4 ft tall fence and was found in the middle of the road at 2am.

I frantically called 911 when I didn’t find her in the house. The dispatcher annoyed me. She didn’t ask what she looked like, she didn’t ask when I last saw her… she said “ok I’ll send an officer over”. A few mins later an officer showed up and told me that they had found my daughter in the road and had taken her to the hospital until a family could be identified. The dispatcher didn’t need to ask for any information because they were just waiting for the family to call to be reconnected.

My daughter didn’t speak at all. We knew something was wrong at this point but we had no idea she had autism. The pediatrician referred us to audiology to test her hearing, believing she may have hearing impairment.

So there I was, mortified that we had lost our daughter in the middle of the night. She was 18 months old. How? When? Why? We were left embarrassed and prepared to explain our entire life story and have our home inspected for adequacy by social services, law enforcement…

And days would turn to weeks. No one came. No follow-up. It’s like it never happened. I was shocked. I felt like a horrible parent.

Unfortunately she would escape several windows and doors, seemingly to slip away in seconds defeating different locks and gates we would put in place. We had multiple searches for her within a year.

Each time, we’d desperately call 911 for help, we’d find her, frantically explain what happened and frantically buy more barriers to try and keep her in. Each time. No one came back.
No social workers, no warrants. It’s like it didn’t matter. But it really did.

Then on one occasion an officer said “I think you should talk to one of our officers that has a kid with autism and elopes”. And he sent a co-worker my way. He told me about his son who had autism and eloped like our daughter.

I would go back to the pediatrician and she agreed to send her in for an evaluation.

It was the first time someone said “autism” and the first time someone followed up.

Fast forward from age 2 to today… she’s eloped many, many times. Thousands actually but she’s required major search parties about ten of those times.

At one point a therapist counted nearly 200 attempts of elopement in one day.

Elopement is the act of wandering away from an area. We would go to extreme lengths to keep her safe and inside our home.

And we’d become vocal about elopement. We started talking about what it was and the times that no one came to follow-up when they should have.

We’ve shared this story with hundreds and hundreds of law enforcement officers in trainings from small town departments to the VA State Police academy to the FBI National Conference. We would later present to a surrounding county and the Dept of Social Services employees of elopement and become an advisor to them on responding to autism and elopement. We spoke to our local community service board. We would talk to fire departments and rescue squads all around us about responding to searches of missing kids with autism. If they would listen, we would share some of the most scary events of our life and talk about the days no one came back to check in on us. We talked about the horrible defeating feelings we had when she eloped. We talked about locks, alarms and cameras available to offer families as options.

And we talked about the stigma of elopement.

The “watch your kid better” keyboard warriors that cause families to delay in reporting out of fear of criminal charges and public backlash. The delay of asking for help that could result in serious injury or death. We encourage the staff and officers to thank the parents for trusting them to call when their loved one elopes. We encourage them to help identify ways to help make the home safer for their family member.

I guess it was a good thing that no one came all of those times. It just drove us to make change in our little part of the world. Their lack of action became a driving force to encourage others to do better.

Funny how things work out…

03/11/2026

Picked up on Indian Oak Rd in Crewe

03/11/2026

What a fantastic day for the Happy Campers at J & E Farmer's Market! ☀️🐐

The campers had an amazing time seeing and interacting with the animals, swinging on the swings, helping make candles, and enjoying a picnic under the pavilion. There were so many fun activities, smiles, and laughs all around!

The weather was beautiful, the company was wonderful, and the memories made will last a long time.

A huge THANK YOU to J & E Farmer's Market for their warm hospitality and for giving our Campers such a fun and memorable experience! 💛🌻

03/11/2026

Let God fling you out, and don't go until He does.

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03/11/2026

Picked up at Dollar General, 153/460

03/10/2026

God has no interest in turning His preachers into passive channels.

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03/10/2026

Happy Campers enjoyed another wonderful Monday morning at BBLISS of Lunenburg, Inc They helped pull hangers and worked on books, and after a productive and fun morning, everyone headed back to the Camp where they spent some time outside enjoying the fresh air before going home for the day. Great teamwork and smiles all around! 😁

03/09/2026

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. (John 6:67)⁠

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03/08/2026

If you have come to the point where you must relinquish or turn back, go on through.

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