Inova Kellar Center 11204 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030

"This is one of the best special education schools in the area! The teachers are compassionate and patient. The administration listens to students and parents, working collaboratively to help students grow and learn. A huge shout out to Ms. Carter, one of the best special education teachers I've ever met! Five enthusiastic stars!"

"The Kellar School is a place where lives are changed and hope restored. There is a pervasive atmosphere of caring and degree of professionalism that makes it a preeminent special education facility. The curriculum is sufficiently individualized that one feels as if the entire facility exists solely for the benefit of one's own child (and EVERY parent is left with that same feeling). The faculty, counselors and administrators are proactive in communicating developments and, even more impotantly, responsive to parents' concerns (emails are typically answered within a few hours, and never more than a day later). Proof of the efficacy of Kellar's methodology is readily apparent. A student's improvement here is noticeable comparatively quickly. While there are oscillations, the trend is always upwards. The result is that the Kellar School ensures that its students realize their maximum potential. Often, that is a higher degree of functionality than anyone had reason to imagine upon enrollment. I have examined the other reviews here, and the negative ones are apparently talking about different components of Inova's treatment apparatus. The Kellar School itself is an amazing facility and any family that can get their student admitted here should count itself fortunate. For any student who falls within the parameters of its treatment options, I highly recommend that the family use every means at its disposal to advocate for placement."

"I had contacted the outpatient program for assistance for my teen in medication management for depression and anxiety to the beginning of May. After several weeks of paperwork exchange, we finally got an appointment several weeks later in mid July. It was then rescheduled 4 DIFFERENT TIMES with the finally appointment being scheduled at the end of September. During this process I was also promised return calls twice that never happened. They simply do not prioritize patient care and my child deserves better."

"The head of the PCP program is manipulative. My daughter was part of the Partial Hospitalization program. She had been experiencing depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. The wait list was months to get in, so by the time there was an opening, she was already underway to healing, but her time in the PHP set her back. All day she had to talk about her depression and listen to others talk about theirs. She was at a point that she was ready to move on past the depression, but they wouldn't let her. When she finally said that their program was the only depressing thing in her life and attending it was the only thing that made her feel suicidal they tried to have her sent to a residential facility in the mid-west. They threatened to try to sue for custody of my child if we wouldn't agree to send her. It was a thinly veiled threat of, "we wouldn't want to have to have your child taken away, but we've done it before - and we know what's best". The doctors were very manipulative. They sent me out of the room and then told my daughter they were sending my daughter to live in a hospital halfway across the country which doens't allow family visits. How is it okay to manipulate and threaten someone with mental health issues? My daughter was very cooperative with everything but they didn't like that she said their program was making her worse. The literally called me in and had me come straight over saying that she should be sent away. It is horrible to threaten a family with something like that. My husband is a lawyer so he knew that legally they have no grounds, but it would be terrifying and for them to try that on parents who arent' aware what their rights are. The doctors there didn't want to hear that their one-size-fits-all doesn't work for everyone. and seemed to then take it out on the patient. IThey also completed discounted anything my daughter said about what is making her depressed and completely dismissed the patient and the parent's ideas about what they feel would be beneficial. It's been a few years now and my child has been doing so much better after leaving their program."

"In November 2018, my daughter was a patient at the Inova Kellar Center's adolescent partial hospitalization program (PHP). Please be aware of the following: 1. As a parent, I was not introduced to any of the staff that would be working with my daughter except the doctor. 2. The 15-minute “Orientation” meeting included another parent and their child and I was curious whether this was a HIPAA violation; at the end, the Kellar Center staff member shut off the lights even though my daughter and I were still in the very back of the conference room, a conference room with no outside windows. It felt so rushed as if the Kellar Center staff member really had no desire but to get through with it as quickly as possible so she could go home. 3. My daughter and me as a parent witnessed incredible dysfunction and an underlying lack of communication with parents or patients: a. Feeling and atmosphere that doesn’t allow a newly arrived patient the ability to ask questions (e.g. where is the bathroom, am I allowed to go to the bathroom, can I ask questions, what if I don’t feel well). b. The point system – My daughter and I still have no idea what those numbers mean on the forms she brings home each night except that higher numbers are good. c. Scheduling of family meetings – we had to initiate every single family meeting and those weren’t even scheduled until the day prior. d. Snow days/early dismissal – no communication (email, text, phone call, or note) to parents was provided; staff were not interested in our feedback regarding the lack of communications being such a big issue and it never improved the entire time we attended even though we provided feedback over and over again. 4. No respect or understanding that I as a parent still have to be at my job and perform work. 5. Kellar Center staff are so focused on process/procedures/protocols that they miss out on the purpose of this program to help people. There was more focus on rules and forms than there was on warmth, kindness, and communication. 6. Kellar Center staff do not trust their patients and the patients are treated like prisoners. Patients cannot talk with each other. Patients cannot enter each other’s personal space. Patients cannot go to the bathroom without an escort. Bathrooms are locked. Upon arrival, patients have to take off their shoes for a daily inspection. At the beginning of the program my daughter had to pop her bra strap. One day she had to take off her socks to show there was nothing hidden inside. If you bring an opened water bottle, you have to dump out all of your water and get fresh water. My daughter finally stopped drinking water during program hours because she felt so intimidated about asking and being escorted to the restroom. I don’t understand how there can be any trust expected from patients or parents when no trust is extended by the doctor, therapist and other Kellar Center staff. Summary: We rejoice in the day when we can leave this uncomely institution and we will broadcast to all the horrors of attending and encourage no other person to subject themselves to this place. The Kellar Center should not be trusted with adolescents in crisis. They nearly drove this parent into a mental health situation because of the amazing lack of decency, organization, communication and competence exhibited almost daily with nearly every interaction we had."