My news article is called “A Broken Home?” and can be found
in Sunday’s (9/8/13)
Post Dispatch. The article outlines a
controversial mentally disabled adult care center, called Sabbath Manor,
located in Normandy. I became very interested in learning more
about this place as I read on. I have limited knowledge of mental institutions
but I have always found them to be fascinating. Every patient has a unique story to tell about
how and why they ended up there. It is
one of the settings where I can see myself practicing social work someday.
Most of the institutions and hospitals for the mentally
disabled that I have witnessed are on TV and are not known for being a “happy”
place whatsoever. Lifeless people are
often depicted in long nightgowns playing board games or talking to
themselves. There is always supervision,
the people are constantly drugged and the places are on lockdown. Of course this is TV and although there may
be some similarities to a real-life institution, every facility paints its own
picture based on its array of unique individuals that reside there and the
kinds of interventions that play a role in their care.
This facility in the article, Sabbath Manor, has once been
used as a one-family household, a senior citizen group home, and has since
shifted to a home for adults with mental disabilities. With all this history, it makes me want to
delve deeper into all the different places it has transformed into and find out
more about the five “W’s” (who, what, when, where, why). Within recent years, Sabbath Manor has
seemingly burnt a lot of bridges between the facility, neighborhood police
officers, and its neighbors most of all.
Problems such as “constant obscenities,” cited by neighbors, and ill
compliance with municipality codes have plagued the facility more recently.
Sabbath Manor’s owner, Ali Chaudhry, is trying to do
everything he can to keep the place running for its 50+ residents. The place is his pride and joy after all. City Councilman Mark Beckmann lives near the
facility and is concerned about a lack of supervision of the patients who live
there. Sabbath Manor is a less
restrictive facility and does not have the power to keep a watchful eye on the
residents 24 hours per day. In fact,
residents are free to leave as they choose throughout the day as long as they
sign out and explain where they are going.
They must return by 10 pm
daily.
So, what are the best solutions here? More supervision? Earlier curfews? Less freedom with a more restrictive
environment for residents? Is there a
possibility that would allow Sabbath Manor’s residents and neighbors to start
living comfortably again side by side in the same community?
Oddly, I can't find this article, nor can I find much information about Sabbath Manor itself. It would be helpful to know what level of support is needed for the residents (and over fifty of them? Yikes!).
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen with other types of housing for this population, there is always 24-hour support for daily living, recreation, and transportation. It's about safety for the residents and the community. I remember a friend of mine telling me once that there was a man who worked in her office a few days a week. She was pretty sure he had some sort of mental challenge and, thus, felt bad telling him he couldn't hug and kiss her when he saw her. I told her she needed to set the boundaries herself. On one hand, some people don't know or won't remember the boundaries. On the other hand, some people DO know the boundaries and will just pretend they don't.
In any case, there's a reason places like the Arc, Community Choice, and TouchPoint/Life Skills provide the services they do. No matter the owner's intentions, it sadly sounds like he's causing more harm than doing good. Ultimately, the residents will be the ones who suffer most.
I agree with Rachel. It is about the safety, and if the level of support of the residents is not being met, that concerns me. I have worked for the St. Louis Arc, and I assisted the individuals with disabilities in the community. We did volunteer work and fun activities such as trips to parks or the zoo! I would have to know more about the facility and as Rachel said, the level of support needed to figure out better solutions.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/normandy-mayor-wants-to-close-home-for-mentally-disabled-adults/article_7099e8a6-e77b-5233-97c9-76b2802e9c97.html
ReplyDeleteThe article states that there are nine employees during the day, three until 11 p.m., and two overnight. Residents are free to come and go until 10 p.m., and as a Residential 2 care site, Sabbath Manor doesn't have any rights or responsibilities to govern behavior when the residents are offsite.
I've been pulling articles out of the paper that might relate to this class, and this was one of them. It hits pretty close to home for me and I want Sabbath Manor to succeed.
I wonder if the answer might be better screening of who gets to live in the home. The article explains that the residents are referred from the state mental health department and BJC Health-Care professionals. Given the level of care that is provided, people who are likely to 'wander into nearby homes, panhandle, and harass children' perhaps should be excluded. On the other hand, these people don't seem to be violent, just annoying.
Another help might be 'social skills' classes on an ongoing basis for the residents. I'm not sure how that would be paid for; it's one more employee needed in an already strapped budget. But perhaps job descriptions could be tweaked and time found in the day or evening. Perhaps an unpaid intern position could be created to make use of college students in the mental health field.
My personal experience with social skills classes for children with autism is that the skills learned in a six week class (once a week for an hour) 'stick' for 2-3 months after the class ends. Then inappropriate behaviors start creeping back in. So I would hope that an ongoing weekly class focusing on things like 'how do we speak to people in our neighborhood', 'what is the personal space of our neighbors', 'how loud should our voices be', etc. would have an effect on how the residents act when outside the home and how they are perceived by the neighbors.
I'm so glad you posted this article. I am wanting to work in the mental health field once I graduate and I am happy that there are articles acknowledging the issue. Although this article did not necessarily delve into the issues of mental illness I am grateful that mental health facilities are being addressed. I will look deeper into Sabbath Manor and be an advocate for them to stay in business if they truly are there to help their residents.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad that in my opinion the mentally disadvantaged are being "pimped" by the system. State oversight does not go far enough and to allow these people to be victimzed if wrong.
ReplyDelete