This is a letter I wrote today to the assistants of Senators Dodd and Fasano and Representative Mary Fritz. These women are FANTASTIC advocates and have been extremely helpful to me and my family while we navigate the murky waters of the mental health system in CT and at the Federal level for SSI. Here is what I learned from these ladies: Call your Senators, Congresspeople, and Representatives for help if you aren’t getting anywhere. The Website for CT is here: http://www.cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp
I also want to let everyone know that Senator Prague also offered to assist me in helping my son. I met her after my first testimony at the Appropriations Hearing in Hartford. She is a tremendous lady and is very committed to helping people in need. She and her staff member, Pam, have been wonderful!
From: XXXXXXXXX
Date: February 20, 2008 11:20:45 AM EST
To: Eileen Wachsman <Eileen.Wachsman@cga.ct.gov>, “Nesman, Randa” <Randa.Nesman@cga.ct.gov>, “Jones, Donna (Dodd)” <Donna_Jones@dodd.senate.gov>
Cc: Senator Prague <prague@senatedems.ct.gov>
Subject: Update on XXXXXX Issues
Good morning, Ladies:
I hope all of you are doing well! I want to share with you what has been taking place since my son and I returned to Connecticut on January 14th. This is a long email.
1. Our son had to go through the intake process again at Rushford Behavioral Center, because they “dropped” him from the clinical portion of his services as soon as I took him to North Carolina to get him off the street. Because of that decision, he is now on a waiting list at Kuhn for employment services and assistance. There is no ETA as to when he will get any services from Kuhn.
2. Our son now sees a psychiatrist at Rushford for all of his medical appointments, as opposed to an APRN, so that his meds will be managed more appropriately.
3. Our son had an intake interview at The Corner House in Meriden on January 15th, and he was verbally accepted into their supportive housing program. The Intake Coordinator told our son that he should be expecting to move into Corner House in approximately two weeks, however, since they are adding several new rooms to the facility, that it may take a few extra days. We were taken on a tour and we did see the construction underway.
4. Since the verbal acceptance at Corner House, we have been informed by James’ Case Manager, XXXXXX XXXXX, at Rushford, that there are now ongoing construction issues “with the State,” and there is no ETA as to when he will be able to move into Corner House. Since we have been home for a month now, this is causing significant issues in our family again. My husband’s depression is no better, our son is sleeping overnight at various friend’s homes, he is not working, has gotten involved with a 33 year old female who got a DUI, and now he uses her car to drive her to work, and uses her car as well. He is floundering around all over the place, and I am not confident that he is taking his meds as prescribed. This is yet another recipe for disaster! After all that my husband and I have gone through, and all of the wonderful assistance all of you have given our family over the last several months, I am becoming increasingly worried and frustrated at the latest turn of events. I am sure you can understand why.
5. Since returning home, the staff at Rushford rarely call to see how our son is doing, they do have him setup with weekly therapy and monthly medication appts. They did make sure that our son would receive therapy from his former therapist (who he really likes), and that was an additional blessing. They tell me that they have no services or programs for our son, so that he could be working on getting employment, or anything else, during the day. Since everything is on hold now, there is nothing for our son to do, and that is not a good thing. My husband and I take it one day at a time, and we continue to be in therapy and on medication ourselves. It is wearing me down to a frazzle, because I am back to worrying and doing the “case management” for my son, as opposed to his Case Manager at Rushford. Our son has medical issues that need to be addressed ( a rotten molar to be removed and wisdom teeth coming in), as well as blood tests that have never been done which his medications require. He needs to get a doctor and have a thorough physical, as he has alot of dizzy spells, which can be a side effect of his medications. I also manage his finances, and that is very difficult to do with a mentally ill loved one who has nothing to do and not many places to go. When will this ever get resolved?
6. I have made several attempts to speak with MS. XXXXXXXX, our son’s Case Manager at DSS in New Haven, and as usual, I never get any kind of response from her. She has never told our son or myself that he could be working in a special program that would not have him lose his benefits. I learned about that program from NAMI-CT while testifying at the Appropriations Committee hearings last week! I wonder how many opportunities our son is not benefiting from because no one has told us, or his Case Managers are not aware of the programs.
7. Since our son was re-entered fully into the Rushford Behavioral System, he has still not received any treatment plan. No one asks us what behaviors we see in our son, to get an idea of what is really going on in his life. He tells them everything is great — and that is fine with them! Sure it’s great! He isn’t working, not going forward, driving everyone around in someone else’s car, and he has no purpose in his daily life except to exist in a fantasy world! This is NOT what my husband and I want for our son. He is capable of working, and wants desperately to get employment, but he needs a lot of help to accomplish that, as well as an extensive employment assessment (not an Interest Inventory). He only receives $424.00 a month in SSI, and approximately $74.00 a month in Food Stamps, which doesn’t allow him to do much. For his life to continually be on hold is very frustrating for him as well as us. My financial situation has become untenable, because I am supporting everyone in this household. To be frank with you — it has almost broken me. I had to go into my 401K at work to get our mortgage current and continue to pay exorbitant oil prices to heat our home. We have kept our heat at 60 degrees all winter to conserve as best we can, but it is almost impossible to manage all of these issues by myself. If our son’s issues were being managed by appropriate parties, it would provide some relief to me. Just the groceries alone, as you all know, are getting more and more expensive, and our son’s $74.00 per month definitely does not feed him adequately, so, of course, I pick up the rest.
So, what can you do to help? I am not sure at this point, but our son needs appropriate housing asap, and Senator Prague mentioned something about a voucher, which I know nothing about either. He does need some variant of supportive housing — not comprehensive, but at least enough to ensure he remains medically compliant, and he needs supportive services in gaining employment and skills training. I feel as though I have exhausted all the avenues I am aware of today. His Case Manager at Rushford had him on a waiting list for Section 8 Housing (although that isn’t the appropriate situation for him either), and the waiting list is years long. He doesn’t get enough in benefits for him to go to a facility in Meriden that would be perfect, so that option is out (I can’t remember the name of it, but he would have his own apartment and have access to any supportive services he needs), and there seems to be nowhere for him to go. The Bridge subsidy is also not available to him, and we are still told that he is too old for the Young Adult Services Program (which is totally untrue — our son is just 23 and they take youth up to age 25).
We still have not gotten much farther than we were months ago, although I will never be able to thank all of you enough for your assistance in getting our son Title 19 and SSI Benefits. You all have been fantastic with your support and kind words of encouragement. If any of you have any other ideas that I could try, please feel free to let me know, as you all know I have no problem doing whatever it takes for our son — I just feel totally helpless at this point.
Although I am so glad to be back home, and I love living in Connecticut, I am still greatly saddened and disturbed by the state of affairs surrounding our most vulnerable population. This whole experience has left me sick to my stomach — and I mean that literally. I am embarrassed to say I am a resident of this state. Something must be done to get this all straightened out — for everyone’s benefit!
If I can be of any service in this regard, please let me know, as I would love to be able to do some good for the residents of this state — as we sorely need it.
Thank you all for reading this long email, and I hope you all have a great day!
Kind regards,
XXXX
