Continuing the discussion from What now? Discharged to where?:
How did you find the group home?? We are in Oregon and haven’t been able to locate such a facility.
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Ask mental health professionals, especially those that you are already connected with. Go to NAMI Family Support Group meetings and ask others there if they might have suggestions. You could try contacting your state NAMI but I’m not sure they’d be able to give out this kind of information. These places aren’t widely publicized. They also might require a referral. I suppose there could be stigma within the adjacent community or other potential problems for the residents. Persons with SMI are often preyed upon.
There are some in my area, but there’s a 8-12 month waiting list. You can call NAMI or google NAMI housing in your state. I’m applying for my son , but i can’t ever see him staying there. That would be an answered prayer.
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I never saw our son staying in a group home or getting treatment…because he refused treatment. However, (1) we did not allow him to come home, (2) he had no money and no where else to go, (3) He generally trusted his family and we used the LEAP strategy in conversation with him. He also eventually got ECT because he had been so sick he wasn’t able to refuse and then he complied thereafter with that treatment even though he wouldn’t accept medication at that point. It also helped that he had been so sick and unable to care for himself at numerous times that I was able to obtain guardianship…but even that does not mean that you can force treatment if the person can communicate they don’t want it. However, once medication was started and he got to a group home, he got on a path of being around other people who were med-compliant, and the eventual switch to Clozapine has proven to be very successful for him (each person is different but there is a lot of evidence that Clozapine should be more widely used than it is in the US).
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I am filling out the application . Who knows what will be happening in a year
Good to plan for options! In our situation, I would have even placed our son out of state if that had been the best place for him compared to any option or limited option closer to home. Keep in mind, too, that there are “group homes” and there are “residential treatment programs”. I am not familiar with any of these specific to your area, but I do know of some residential treatment programs around the country.
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yes I have looked at some residential supervised homes… $3000- $5000/ month. Boy I wish I could afford that. We finally got someone on phone who knew what they were talking about. She explained supervised housing to us, through NAMI. We have to get him to talk to them on phone for a screening… I doubt he will. But we should have guardianship soon, she said that will help.
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Use LEAP (I Am Not Sick; I Don’t Need Help") skills to talk to a person who does not want to do what you believe is best for them for reasons that THEY want. It’s not only about taking medication…those skills can be used for many different situations and not just for persons with SMI! There is much discussion about this on this site.