The Chaplain’s Blog

Hidden from the system

September 05, 2008 Comment

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by Craig Rennebohm
September 5

These past couple of weeks I’ve found myself working with several families consisting of older parents who have a mentally ill son or daughter in his or her forties or fifties. The parents have been their children’s main support over the years, helping with housing, encouraging treatment and care, providing the primary social connection in the face of a chronic illness experience that is isolating for the person who is ill and devastating for the entire family.

Now comes yet another crisis. The son or daughter has dropped out of care and is no longer in treatment. The symptoms of illness have returned. An eviction notice to “comply or vacate” has been served.

At this moment I am working on four such situations. The issue is not rent — the rent has been paid. The issue is cleanliness, hygiene, odors, breaking the rules of a lease. The root of the issue is the mental illness and the way it has impaired the person’s capacity to live independently — to manage basic daily tasks and navigate the expectations and requirements of being a tenant. One woman has run an extension cord out her apartment door to a socket in the hall because she believes the outlets in her own apartment have been tampered with. A man has been asked to leave his unit because he no longer cares adequately for his service dog — he just reads to the dog all day long. Yet another has been asked to leave because she uses gallons of bleach in endless efforts to clean her apartment. The fourth person hasn’t cleaned her unit in months. In each case, management puts notices on the door or sends a registered letter.

What’s so sad is that these conditions — and, presumably, many more similar cases that I am not aware of — have remained hidden. In my county, we have no program of outreach to mentally ill individuals who are housed, and thus no trained and readily available persons who might be able to establish trust and relationship and be in a position to intervene proactively. There is no caseworker to call, because the person is not in treatment. The family tries to visit and help, only to be turned away at the door. The issues do not rise to the level of danger to self or others or grave disability, and therefore it is not legally possible to hospitalize the people against their will. Even an eviction does not, in itself, constitute evidence of “grave disability.” Becoming homeless, in itself, is not considered a “danger to self.”

Thus do we add to the ranks of the homeless. Thus do we thank elderly parents and a family who have tried their best to care for their loved one who is grappling with mental illness.

What has been your experience? Do you have suggestions or models of proactive outreach that can bring people into care and offer preventive services? Are there ways to provide care to a person on a simply humanitarian or public-health basis, especially when their illness impairs their capacity to “sign up for services,” go into the mental health center for a traditional screening and intake process, or complete formal “agreement for treatment” paperwork?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. To leave a comment, go to the top of this page and click on either “No comments” or “x comments” (where x represents the number of comments already received).

Peace,
Craig

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The Chaplain’s Blog

Hidden from the system

Breathing deeply

We are not alone

Back to the blog

How do I become a chaplain?

Caring for souls in need

Caring for the soul of the world

It takes us all to create a caring community

We are all vulnerable

Are you eligible for benefits?

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