My well-meaning father who is 97 had bought a condo for my mentally disabled sister and spouse to live in. At the time every one of them were healthier. My dad has since been moved to assist living after dementia diagnosis. My sister’s spouse passed away and my sister herself has become unable to walk and suffering edema. Her inability to make competent decisions with Asperger’s syndrome has contributed to herself neglect and ability to communicate her needs to any kind of social service that check on her. They blatantly overlook her needs. At the moment she is in a rehab after being hospitalized for infected wounds and her Medicaid isn’t going to cover her much longer. This is the second time that the cycle of her being sent home with a care plan that never stays in effect. Her name isn’t on the deed and my dad barely has means to pay her HOA and his own living costs .I feel that it’s the best thing to sell her place (worth almost nothing) and have the state provide housing and care for her . I feel so long as the state (TEXAS) has a place to drop her off at they will not provide the care she actually needs. How should I go about forcing social services to actually care about her mental and physical health?
I have no means of caring for her. It would be unfair to my children as I’m a single mother who has little time for outside obligations.
My personal experience with APS was, as long as there was food and running water, that was good enough and no intervention possible.
As hard as it is to watch someone we love live in atrocious conditions, they have that right by law and no agency is going to be able to intervene when the needs are personal choices.
I pray that the crisis' that forces change is not to terrible for anyone involved. Welcome to the club.
Not everything can be fixed and that is even MORE true of mental illness than it is in dementia.
I encourage you to read Liz Scheier's excellent memoir of her lifelong attempts to intervene for her mother, all along with the auspices of the city and state of New York. None of her attempts were of any use. This, while it will not help you find a solution, will help you feel less alone and may help you accept that there isn't always a solution.
I am so sorry. This must be difficult to endure.