Help for When Your Child is Lost Within

As a parent who has laid awake at night, worrying about their child, whether she will come home that night, and whether she is safe, alive, or dreading but hoping the phone will ring, Joel Horowitz, co-founder of Friends of Families with Children in Crisis and the Director of Tommy Hilfiger Company, shared his personal experience as a parent with a struggling teen on Lon Woodbury's Internet Talk Radio Show "Parent Choices for Struggling Teens" on December 19, 2011 at LATalkRadio .

Joel Horowitz and his wife Ann know firsthand what it is like to have a child, out of control, into drugs and feeling like they don't know where to turn. In the mid 90's, their daughter, who was 15 years old at the time was this child. After purchasing a book with roughly 600 schools and programs from all over the country, their family counselor spotted a small paragraph, describing a program, a short term wilderness program called ASCENT, which fit perfectly for what their child needed. Thus started their path and involvement with CEDU and the private, emotional growth programs in which they enrolled their daughter.

Joel kiddingly shared that after they dropped their daughter off at ASCENT; they checked into a local hotel and literally slept for 15 straight hours. A much needed sleep after a rather sleepless two years.

After her completion with ASCENT, they felt she needed (and they needed) a long term program for the sake of their family. They then enrolled her into Rocky Mountain Academy, where she then went on to Northwest Academy, a transitional program for older students. After her completion with the programs, she went on to college, received her Master's in fine art and is now married, with three children and has followed in her father's footsteps and is the Creative Director of a famous fashion company.

During their time with CEDU, Joel and his wife participated in the numerous parent workshops and became friends with a number of parents. One thing they did notice, was the amount of attrition the schools were having due to parents not having the funds to allow their child to complete the program. Teaming up with Howard Swibel, and a group of concerned parents, the Friends of Families Foundation was formed. They decided to focus their efforts in financially helping families who were already committed and in the process of healing but were faced with not being able to afford their child's program completion.

Since 1998 Friends of Families Foundation has continued to help families with this struggle.

To listen to the full interview go to Help for When Your Child is Lost Within on LATalkRadio.

Lon Woodbury is the owner/founder of Woodbury Reports Inc. and www.strugglingteens.com. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984 and is the host of Parent choices for Struggling Teens on LATalkRadio Mondays at 12:00 Noon, Pacific Time, Channel One. Questions for this interview are welcome and should be sent to lonwoodbury@gmail.com.

Joel J. Horowitz, Director of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, has over 35 years of experience in the apparel industry. He began his career with Polo/Ralph Lauren and later joined Murjani International, Ltd., and in 1984 he was appointed President of the designer division, which included the initial development of the Tommy Hilfiger business. From 1986 to 1989 he served as President of Murjani International, Ltd. And in March of 1989, Mr. Horowitz, together with Mr. Hilfiger, joined forces with their partners to form Tommy Hilfiger, Inc.

Joel J. Horowitz is a member of the Executive Leadership Cabinet of the Washington D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. In 1997 he founded the Friends of CEDU Foundation which today operates under the name of Friends of Families with Children in Crisis where he remains as Trustee.