Tangling With a DMHAS Staff Member Part 4: The Attempt at Plan Implementation
So, after explaining the plan for our son, and after talking with our son and several experts on the matter, we came to a general consensus. Our son should not go to a respite center, even in an interim placement, as it just was not appropriate for his needs. What he needs is a supportive housing situation, where he has appropriate supports and autonomy and self-directed-ness as is warranted. The group thought was that if our son was placed into respite, that he would then languish there, or possibly get expelled after 10-14 days (and be put back on the street). This is not wants ANYONE wants for our son. The risk is too high to chance our son ever going out onto the street again. I certainly don’t want to have to go to another state and endure all the stressors that go along with this type of decision EVER AGAIN! Having to do this one time is inexcusable all by itself!
I also had told this caseworker that I was having a difficult time getting Title19 for our son with the Department of Social Services in New Haven, and that it had been a horrible experience to date. The caseworker said to me that if I just work really hard to get our son to go into respite that he would do whatever he could to help me out with the ongoing Title 19 issues.
Therefore, in our last, and most recent phone conversation, the verbal exchange went as follows: (C=Caseworker and M=Mother):
On 11/27/07, the caseworker called me around 3:20PM.
M: Hello?
C: How’s our boy?
M: He’s fine.
C: Did he read the Website like I told him to?
M: Yes, but he had a very difficult time and it was very overwhelming for him.
C: Why is that?
M: Because he can barely read.
C: Well, he should at least read the WRAP Outlines – they are easy to read.
M: Well, he hasn’t gotten that far yet.
C: Have you heard anything from Rushford about a respite bed?
M: No, I haven’t, but I wanted to talk to you about it. I have talked to several professionals about this idea and the general consensus is that it is not an appropriate placement for our son – even as an interim solution.
C: Well, you are going to be down there for several months. (in a very angry tone)
M: No, I won’t XXXXXX. (I have removed the caseworker’s name and made it all X’s).
C: Well, what is your solution? (again, very angry)
M: I want to pursue the XXXX House option with Britni and Title 19.
C: Well, I don’t do Title 19 — you go to DSS for that. (even more angry tone)
M: Okay, XXXX, that’s fine.
C: Ms. XXXXXX, when you decide you want help from DMHAS, you call us back. (really angry and nasty tone of voice)
M: Ok, XXXXX.
C: He hung up at this point and that was the end of the call.
This call was very contentious, and this caseworker’s voice got nastier and nastier in tone. He didn’t even want to discuss anything with me, and I never got to tell him some very important feedback:
- The fact that he would not even deign to look at the neuro-psych report we went to great lengths to get (and so did the Dr.’s who made special arrangements to do it very quickly), was extremely troubling to me. That report outlines our son’s issues, needs, and requirements for his success as an adult male living with Bipolar Disorder.
- If this caseworker had read the report on our son, he would have never asked him to read a Website for 30 minutes a day, because he would have known he was asking too much of our son.
- Because this caseworker didn’t put too much stock in neuro-psych reports, as he felt that psychologists pathologize their patients and all say the same things, I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable that this person was trying to assist me in gaining appropriate services for our son. This man works for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the State of CT — remember to keep that in mind as you read this.
- This caseworker had little or no people skills for interacting either with a parental advocate or a mentally ill young adult male. All I can think of now, is that if this is who we have staffing our mental health authority, then we all better be scared to death at the treatment our loved ones will receive.
- This caseworker had even trivialized, and played down, our son’s pervasive mental illness — an illness that is documented from the time he was 5 YEARS OLD! This person has no right to question a diagnosis or a report that was performed by highly skilled mental health professionals and experts. I have never been so insulted as I was by this man. And when I wanted to discuss and challenge his idea for a solution, what does he do? Get irate with me and hang up on me. He certainly didn’t have any intention of helping me with Title 19 or anything else!
So, I promptly called the Medical Director of DMHAS that afternoon and left a very nice voicemail asking him to please call me back, because I wanted to discuss with him what I had just gone through with one of his caseworkers. The Medical Director was also recommended to me by other professionals as someone who would be committed to helping me get our son’s services in place as quickly as possible. I called him late in the afternoon on 11/27/07. It is now 7:17PM on 11/28/07, and I have not heard anything as of yet.
I am going to take a break, because I am feeling overwhelmed and upset again, so I need to de-stress. I think a hot cup of tea will do the trick!
Comments and feedback are welcome!
