Profiles

Laurie C. is a 37 year old single woman with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. She has been living in a 24 hour staffed residence since her discharge from a state hospital five years ago. Laurie and her treatment team have requested a more independent residence for her. She is waiting for a vacancy in a less intensively staffed residence. She continues to wait because other clients are waiting for rental assistance in order to vacate the slots Laurie could use.

George P. is a 23 year old single man who is currently awaiting a high intensity residential placement in the community. George carries a diagnosis of Paranoid Schizophrenia, and needs a 24 hour staffed group home. Until there is an opening in such a residence for young adults, he will remain in the state hospital.

Danny is an 11 year old boy who lives at home with his mother who is a single parent. He attends the local elementary school and is in the 5th grade. He has learning problems and also carries diagnoses of Bipolar Disorder and Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder. He has frequent emotional and behavioral outbursts. Danny is aware of his learning difficulties, which has contributed to his low self-esteem. Danny has difficulties making and keeping friends, and he often winds up in conflict with peers due to his social immaturity (i.e., he had to quit his hockey team because he would be provoked by teammates). He has a great deal of difficulty following directions at home and often requires repeated prompts from his mother who is very frustrated but wants to support to learn new techniques to better deal with his behaviors and emotional upsets. His mother and he are on a waiting list for intensive flexible support and home-based services including respite care.

Jenny F. is a 54 year old widowed female who lives in a supported housing apartment with 2 other women. She carries a diagnosis of chronic, paranoid schizophrenia and has stayed outside the hospital over ten years with the support of a day treatment program and her supported housing staff. With occasional employment support, she has been able to maintain her part time position as a cafeteria worker for three years.

For the past 2 1/2 years, Jenny and her treatment team have agreed she is ready to move to independent living. Although she is on multiple housing authority lists, no subsidy has become available. As a result, she continues to occupy a supported housing slot that could be used by someone else.

Mary is an 18 year old female who has been in and out of home placements since age five, including several psychiatric hospitals. She is diagnosed as Psychotic Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She frequently exhibits significant paranoid and disorganized thinking.

Mary is currently living with her older sister since the death of their mother. the sister is often unable to respond to her needs, and Mary ends up at a homeless shelter. This young lady is a high risk in the community and needs a structured residential placement.

Ted L. is a 57 year old single male who resides with 78 year old mother. Ted suffers from Major Depression and has a history of psychiatric hospitalizations and ECT treatments extending over 30 years. For 25 years, Ted held a janitorial job with the assistance of a supported employment coach. He took pride in his work, but as a result of corporate downsizing, Ted lost his job. The loss resulted in a State hospital admission.

When Ted was ready for discharge, his mother did not want him to have to wait in the hospital for a residential placement. She invited him back into her home. However, her severe Rheumatoid Arthritis makes managing the home and caring for Ted progressively more difficult. Ted, unable to acknowledge his mother's physical deterioration, complains that she does not care for him as in the past, and he has become more belligerent.

Ted needs a 24 hour staffed program which can assist him with taking his medications, and provide rehabilitative training, so that he can learn cooking, cleaning, and personal care skills, and eventually move into supportive housing.

My name is Gail; I have two sons, one with mental illness. His name is Stephen, and he is now 46 years old.

Stephen was always low key and a quiet boy. Like many families, we thought the early signs of Stephen's illness were just growing pains, a "boy being a boy" or just adolescence.

We found it was much more.

When he was 20 and a student at Wentworth institute, Stephen became very sick. He was diagnosed with paranoia and schizophrenia. My husband and I were naive. We both thought: Ok, get Stephen some treatment, some medication, and he'll be better.

We found out that mental illness can be a lifetime of heartache.

My husband and I are retired. We cannot provide the kind of care Stephen needs. At times Stephen can become violent. He once attacked my husband. Sometimes Stephen would simply disappear and live on the streets for long periods of time. We worried about him and wondered where he was. At the same time, we would worry he might suddenly show up at our door in a violent rage. No illness should make a mother fear her own son.

Stephen is at a Mental Health Center waiting for a community placement. The Department of Mental Health has identified a group home for Stephen, but a resident at that home is waiting for a supported housing placement. So both continue to wait for the kind of support each needs.

Keith is an 11 year old with a history of physical abuse, abandonment by his mother, and the untimely deaths of his two most significant caretakers, his aunt and grandmother. his father is involved, but is unreliable. Keith has long term emotional instability, aggressive outbursts, oppositional behavior, anxiety and post traumatic symptoms. He has been on a special care hospital unit for almost a year, following multiple, brief psychiatric hospitalizations. Keith has made significant gains and has been ready for a month for discharge to a community residential program. A program has been identified for him, but his admission has been delayed because another youth in the program, ready for discharge, is without an appropriate foster home placement. The program is at capacity.

At this time, there are 4 other youngsters waiting for this particular program. Some are in hospitals, and some are in respite facilities or in the community.

My name is Nancy, and I have a son with mental illness. Brett's illness was so severe, he could not be cared for at home. He was hospitalized for three months, and then placed in a DMH residential program for over a year. Those were difficult times for Brett and our family. We both needed the services and support we received form the Department of Mental Health. It made a great difference.

Today, Brett is back home and doing well. We will probably always need some support, but we are both grateful he can live at home.

Families who need the kind of support I received should not be kept waiting.