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People Are Waiting
Editor's Note: In this article Bonnie describes the urgent needs which consumers and their loved ones are struggling with today in the Commonwealth. Sadly for so many people on waiting lists the wait can be a matter of life and death. Bonnie J. Twomey is a public policy associate for the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health. Ted L. is a 57 year old single man with a history of psychiatric hospitalizations and ECT treatments extending over 30 years. For 25 years, Ted held a janitorial job with the assistance of a supported employment coach. When he lost his job as a result of corporate downsizing, he required another admission to a State Hospital. When Ted was ready for discharge, his 78 year old mother, who suffers with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, invited him to her home because she did not want him waiting in a hospital for a residential placement. Her medical condition, however, makes managing the home and caring for Ted progressively more difficult. Ted needs a 24 hour staffed residential program which can assist him with taking his medications, and provide rehabilitative training so that he can learn cooking, cleaning and personal care skills, and eventually move into supportive housing. His mother needs the peace of mind that knowing her son is safe and being cared for can provide. Both are still waiting. Danny is an 11 year old boy with Bipolar Disorder and Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder. He lives at home with his mother, and attends the local elementary school. Danny has frequent emotional and behavioral outbursts, and is often in conflict with peers. He has a great deal of difficulty following directions at home, and requires repeated prompts from his mother who is frustrated but willing to learn new techniques to better deal with his behaviors and emotional upsets. Danny and his mother are on a waiting list for intensive flexible support and home based services, including respite care. Ted is one of more than 3000 adult clients of the Department of Mental Health (DMH) who are waiting for housing and residential services. Danny is one of over 100 DMH child/adolescent clients waiting for support services. Their stories and those of others, are documented in People Are Waiting, a report of the Massachusetts Association For Mental Health, Inc. (MAMH) which provides detailed information on the wait lists for DMH housing and residential services. MAMH a private nonprofit organization, published People Are Waiting as part of its campaign to bring attention to the housing needs of people with mental illness. As the profiles on Ted and Danny illustrate, the waiting lists impact family members and consumers. People Are Waiting is organized according to the six DMH service areas. Within each area the Report divides the DMH adult population into several categories, and provides the number of adults within each category, and the specific kind of housing or residential service which is needed. The adult population categories listed are:
The report also lists a redacted DMH identification number for each person on the waiting list to reinforce the point that the wait list numbers are real and represent actual clients of the Department of Mental Health. Every member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate has been provided a copy of People Are Waiting. A campaign goal is to encourage family members and others to tell legislators how important housing and residential services are both to the recovery process of the individual with mental illness, and to the peace and well being of his or her family. Letters of support sent to the House of Representatives and the Senate for the People Are Waiting Campaign are encouraged. Calls to the legislature about success stories of loved ones who have benefited from gaining housing or a profile of someone who is struggling to regain some dignity to obtain housing are also welcomed. For more information about People Are Waiting, and how you can help, call Bonnie Twomey or Tim O’Leary at MAMH Tel: 617-742-7452; Fax 617-742-7452; or e-mail : infomamh@mamh.org
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