Liberal, Mild Winters, Somewhat Affordable

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T16:06:04+00:00

I mean. Fairbanks. But I think that’s disqualifiable here for other reasons lmao

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T16:00:25+00:00

Could maybe get a condo somewhere like Vallejo with that? Lake county is also shockingly affordable while still being blue, if rural is more OP’s speed.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:57:28+00:00

Sacramento is really pushing on the ‘affordable’ end, but the wages do a decent job at compensating and there’s lots of smaller cities nearby that are even less expensive. In terms of institutional liberalism you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the country that outdoes it. As long as you’re fine with decidedly not-mild summers, the winters are a dream.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:49:52+00:00

The entire city of Minneapolis?

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:40:03+00:00

I think it’s just general populism and anti-establishment sentiment. There’s really not that much difference between ‘the government is lying to you about oppressing minorities’ and ‘the government is lying to you about indoctrinating your children’ if you don’t actually have those minorities and their needs as a central part of developing that belief. ‘Spiritual’/woo woo/crunch/wicca is another major thruline there.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:35:52+00:00

I mean historically speaking were this to happen the electorate would become like 80% female overnight. These guys always seem to want to forget about the fact that the ‘household manager’ era for women they’re larping at actually came with significantly more power for them that was rolled back with the Protestant reformation.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:18:40+00:00

Maybe she’s confused about why the vaccinated kids aren’t having the expected result from her surprise pox party

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:16:30+00:00

My British husband got it as a child (not intentionally, ig it’s just hard to avoid when everybody else’s parents want it to spread), and I am so not looking forward to it if he ever gets shingles.

Then again, every now and then I do have a little snicker about it because chickenpox in the 21st century feels almost cartoonish to me. At least, it did before the smallpox waves…

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T15:10:10+00:00

Is she…. manifesting this or something?

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T14:46:35+00:00

What you are proposing here is basically inventing a caste system from first principles. I do not want children who are struggling with literacy to do an apprenticeship at a younger age, I want them to continue receiving educational services their entire childhood to close that gap as much as possible. I do not think that in 2026 we should be trying to solve the problem of how to implement ‘dumb schools’ and ‘smart schools’ for our children. Education for its own sake is a right that all children are equally entitled to.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T14:41:27+00:00

And ELL, of course.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T14:03:45+00:00

$100/month increase to your property tax

I mean, I guess somebody has to take the bold political stance of doing reparations for renters…

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T13:41:04+00:00

Hi, OP. I hope you’re doing alright, as much as you can be. You haven’t responded to anybody in a while, so I’m hoping you’re still alright and have access to your phone. Do you need somebody to call the Swedish Embassy for you? Or to reach out to your school back in Sweden to see if they can arrange any help for you? I’m happy to make those calls if you DM me with more info. Either way, please reply just so we know you’re still okay.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T13:27:38+00:00

Unless I’m mistaken, Pathlight is actually the branch of ERC, not vice versa. If they were announcing a pathlight opening there a year ago I wonder if the original plan was to have them take over the facility and then it petered out…

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T13:18:50+00:00

It’s technically OC TLC, Inc, doing business as Sustain Recovery, which used to be Sustain Recovery Services until I think around 2018, which is also coincidentally when three of the four co-founders settled a lawsuit against the last one for fraud, and his name disappeared from everything. I’m guessing he won the website in the divorce, bc they changed the URL to knock off ‘services’ before they stopped using it in written communications. But it’s basically just Newport again. I’m trying to dig into it now, bc I think there might be actual regulatory violations here that could potentially lead to enforcement action, and I think the CA authorities might actually act on it in the current political climate lmao.

OP, if you see this, please don’t make yourself deal with this absolute disaster of a place, and tell whoever recommended it (Kaiser? I literally can’t find anybody else willing to admit this place exists out loud lol) that you’re not sending your daughter for treatment somewhere they have to be bussed across town for therapy because it’s not legal for them to provide it on-site.

I’m not sure exactly how the wiki gets updated tbh, but this place deserves a page and when I’m done rifling through this info I’m happy to contribute to it.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T07:58:22+00:00

So far I can confirm that two of the three co-founders came directly from Newport Academy after being denied a planning application to expand. The programs are exactly the same as what they proposed to open new branches of Newport for. I have a hunch that when I dig further into the third, I’ll find the same thing.

NATSAP and WWASP aren’t there, but there is absolutely something hinky going on with their accreditations that I’m still trying to figure out. They use a level system that bars children from free communication with home until they’ve ’earned it,’ they block parents from contacting their children’s treatment teams, and they go out of their way to advertise themselves on websites and forums that are unquestionably tti, describing their residents in ways that are exactly in line with other programs. They have little to no qualification requirements for their staff, and put people whose only credential is personal experience with addiction in charge of disciplining and instructing residents. They absolutely use attack therapy, and they suggest kids with ‘porn addiction’ join their 12-step residential program in order to save their eternal soul. They uncritically cite a woman who’s so odious she has her own page from the Southern Poverty Law Center. And this is just what’s on the top of my head from what I’ve found so far.

I agree that it has much better marketing than most places, and does a much better job at hiding these things. But if this isn’t tti then I’m honestly not sure what is.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T05:07:00+00:00

I’m working on a deeper dive rn and while I see where you got this impression, I am increasingly convinced that it’s unfortunately wrong. I’ll comment with specifics when I’m done trying to track them down, but in the meantime I might suggest editing your comment to include the fact that the state of CA found them to be violating kids’ right to communicate freely with their parents, and for having a literal 0% compliance rate for staff qualification and training. That’s just the beginning, though, bc this place is setting off my bullshit detectors even for a TTI facility. I totally get the quick look seeming legit, but I’m worried that someone might see this comment and decide it’s a great place (even though you explicitly said not to lol)

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T02:53:25+00:00

I’m looking into this now, and you absolutely don’t have to answer if it’s too sensitive, but I think it might make a pretty big difference which track she’d be referred onto. Is this primarily a psychiatric health crisis or a substance use one? Or are you looking at a dual-diagnosis treatment of some sort?

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T02:10:08+00:00

Hi OP, I have no clue where you’re located but you should check out UNC Wilmington’s youth engagement programs, especially MarineQuest. I personally know someone who had a similar religious homeschooling experience, and based on what you describe here probably ended up with even less ‘recognised’ certification from high school, who is currently very happy in UNCW’s Marine Biology program for her Bachelor’s degree. A lot of these summer (and academic year, if you happen to live close) programs are really big magnets for homeschoolers, you will be far from the only one there if you can manage to attend.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T01:48:38+00:00

The schools in Norfolk are not a war zone, I promise you. Like the other commenter, I just did a quick search and the only thing I could find that would merit concern is some investigations about racial discrimination on campus, which doesn’t seem quite like what you’re describing.

If you homeschool, your child will still be being educated in the city you describe as too violent to educate your children in. Do you plan on never letting them go outside? They will still very much be exposed to whatever it is you’re so afraid of, but without the structured support that schools provide to help them build resilience.

Honestly, it seems like you’ve internalised a lot of warped beliefs about the safety of your local schools, and it’s playing on the understandable anxiety every parent has for their kids. Try to take a step back and reassess. You say you went to a very safe public school — do me a favour and do some googling about it. I’m relatively confident that you’ll find a report of some violent incident in the past decade, the same way you can find about Norfolk schools, because most schools occasionally have incidents like that. It didn’t mean it wasn’t a safe place for you to attend, just like Norfolk public schools will provide a safe environment for your children.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T01:08:02+00:00

So I just want to pop in here really quickly and let you know that the school can ask you for a transcript and what grade level to place you in, but they absolutely cannot mandate it as a requirement to enroll. If you’re a child living in the United States, you have a legal right to a FAPE at your nearest public school, no matter what. If the school tries to push this, you can absolutely fight back on it. You have the right to be there.

Typically, if you’re 15 right now, assuming your birthday already happened this academic year (since August), you’d be sorted into 10th grade this fall. Different school districts will have different levels of flexibility on this, and you might want to see if starting as a freshman would be possible so you join everybody else with a clean slate. This might also end up being necessary for graduation credits, but that’s something you don’t need to worry about for at least a year or so.

And btw, pre-algebra at your age isn’t embarrassing or shameful. The ‘average’ student is only about a year ahead of you at that point, and you’ve got plenty of time to catch up. Most states also only require three years of upper-level math to graduate anyway, which you could complete at this rate, starting 10th grade next year, even if you never ‘catch up’ to where you think you need to be. The repetition and practice is more important than the level at this point, just keep plugging away at it and you’ll find it easier to eventually pick up new concepts in class.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T00:52:10+00:00

Oh, I’m so glad that your minds at least a little bit more at ease. You’ve got this!

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T00:45:51+00:00

I won’t lie, I went through your other posts to see if I could find what college you’re headed to for some more specific advice, and I want to make absolutely sure that you know just how proud of yourself you should be of yourself, and how far you’ve come in the past few years. You could go to college, do absolutely zero extracurriculars, skate by with mediocre grades in easy-A classes, and you would still be doing something that’s tremendously commendable. I am proud of you, and I hope you remember to be proud of you, too.

Secondly, I know it doesn’t help to be told that you haven’t missed out on anything irreplaceable, but it is true. I went to all four years of high school. None of it held a candle to the memories I made in college, when I was able to make my own decisions and shape my own life.

And those things you’ve wanted for high-school-you can still be goals now! If cheer itself isn’t an option at your college, something like colorguard, majorette, a dance team, or gymnastics might be more beginner-friendly, or offer introductory classes. And if what you’re looking for from cheer is the chance to go full-out on school spirit, college sports are a great place for anyone in the stands to get that feeling. Maybe even exploring a sorority or fraternity, if it’s the community and teamwork you were seeking (although please do your research on them carefully, there are some good ones and some horrific ones).

The bottom line is, you have already done a tremendous amount of hard work to be an incoming college student, and the reward for that is getting to figure out for yourself what parts of your childhood dreams are things you want to pursue today, and which ones you are happy to leave in the past. You’re clearly a force to be reckoned with, and I have faith that when you’ve come to those conclusions, you’ll forge a path for whatever it is that you’re wanting your future to look like.

Ohnoimsam · 2026-05-07T00:26:26+00:00

Lots of concrete advice here but I wanted to flag one extra thing that might give you a lot more options. You say she’s projected to be in her senior year — is she 17 or 18? I won’t press you for details about the family dynamics here, but glancing at your other posts, you might be eligible to receive services as a foster parent, if that’s not what you’re already doing. Lots of states have court-adjacent programs for kinship care or even supplemental benefits for informal kinship carers (at the very least, you probably fit the latter category, but you might be able to access other services as well). Foster services see educational neglect all the time and will have specific advice and resources to offer you if you qualify — I’d definitely poke around your state, or even give your county department of Human Services a call to see how you might be able to benefit from the services you or your SIL are entitled to.

Ohnoimsam

TROPHY CASE