I am glad that you got some peace in your house and a place for her to live. IS a group home the same as an assisted living facility? That is where my son is now. They cook and clean for him and administer meds. They take the SSI payment. He is happy there- bored but safe! The psych doctor comes in on a regular basis and the administrator send them to the hospital if necessary.
If a group home is something different- can you describe what it is , how you found one, and what it costs?
We all need to know the options if we can’t do it anymore in our homes for whatever the reasons.
@Triplets : Maybe group homes are called assisted living in other states. A well run group home will have one or two paid people who administer the meds as well as making sure the house is well run and organized. I don’t know what the cost is – I’m told it could be $4,000 a month or perhaps more but honestly I don’t know the difference between assisted living and a group home.
Every situation and state may do things differently – all I know is that my daughter has been with the same mental health care agency for 15 years. It is not state run but rather a private agency that receives funding from the state and I believe because its privately run it seems to be a lot more nimble in caring for the mi population and what I’ve seen a lot less bureaucratic and a whole lot more personal. My daughter knows everyone there and feels completely at ease. It feels like family for my daughter and she`s also met some friends who are clients of this agency.
One of the things I did is stress to the powers that be is how much money the state would save if she was in a group home vs living with me or on her own. She calls the police at least once a month and then they bring her to the hospital and stays a few days and the hospital charges the state around $20,000 vs having her in a group home for around $4,000/month.
The agency originally started by one protestant pastor and his wife in the 1970’s. He and his wife were caring for mi folks in their own home. He died several years ago and the private home became an agency and has expanded greatly from the Pastor’s original home. My daughter receives SSD from her father who is retired so she receives substantially more that folks on SSI and I’m sure all of that money will be applied towards her care. I hope that helps. I’m not going to kid you that it’s easy to find a group home who will take your child. For our family almost everything we’ve done to advocate and help my daughter for proper mental health care has been like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Group homes have different amounts of help with daily activities in the state where I live. Here, all assisted living facilities can give medication while some group homes do not.
Thanks for your explanation. Your place sounds much more personalized than what my son has.
For others: He was in an assisted living facility in MO and now in FL. I needed to call to make sure they took mi patients. Not all FL do- mostly for the older population. There is special licensing to take mi patients in FL. The facilities housed about 40-50 people. Also ask for the age ranges n the facility.
MO - provided transportation back to the psych hospital in town where there was an intensive out patient program ( 1 year). Psych doc visits at the hospital. Regular GP visited the house monthly.
FL: psych and regular GP visit the house on regular basis.
Both: had med dispensing/reordering, meal prep, laundry, and a bed in a shared room.
Rent was about $1200 - which was the amount of his SSDI check (under his retired father as a disabled child). He was on SSI before and now I know (but did not know then) that they would take the SSI check amount. Ask for this.
For those of you still looking for a place like this - call everywhere and always ask where you can call next if they can’t help you. I did find some state listings of facilitates and made hundreds of calls, then visited to find a good place for him. This plan works for us and may for your family. Best of luck to all of you!