Category Archives: adhd

Medicaid, still no resolution

Well, it has been a week since we learned that David’s Medicaid would be closed and that we would have to reapply in the state where the PRTF level facility he resides is located.   Still no resolution.  But we have a variety of people from the state working on it, and I am creating a case history with our state Protection and Advocacy agency in regards to this.

Why?

It isn’t just because he has Medicaid and they should have to cover the expenses.  He was court ordered to have Medicaid provided on his behalf until he turns 18.  The key here is Court Ordered.  That means that  a judge says he has to have it.   It isn’t an entitlement in the sense that most people are thinking.  I didn’t apply for him to have medicaid.  It came with him as part of his adoption.

Where I am struggling is:

  1. The state where he is in PRTF level care is Montana.
    1. In Montana, PRTF level of care is an “optional MA service”.  Meaning that even if we apply for Medicaid there, and he is accepted, they can say no.
  2. I was asked who placed David in the facility.
    1. This is a rather gray area.  When we left his last placement, no other facility in our state would accept him.  His current facility in Montana even questioned why he was there, as he was leaving one facility for another facility just like it.  Which we agree with, but what can we do?  I can’t force him into the care of a facility that doesn’t want him.
    2. Does it really matter who placed him?  He has court ordered Medicaid until he turns 18.  We went through all of the Interstate Compacts and Approvals prior to driving him 550 miles from home to place him in that facility.  All of the necessary paperwork was completed.  If this is really an issue, shouldn’t it have been an issue before placement?
    3. If someone decides he isn’t supposed to be there, then where is he supposed to be?  I honestly don’t think that he is ready to be at home.  So where does he go?  If no facilities in our state will accept him, what other options are available?
  3. His current placement was not our first choice.  I would much rather him be within our state so that we could see him quite a bit more than we do.  We used to see him every week, sometimes I would see him twice a week.  Since January, I have seen him twice.  Mom has seen him once, and he hasn’t seen his siblings since Christmas.

Is this an ideal situation?  Of course not.  I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.  But this really isn’t about me.  This is about what is best for David.

David doesn’t deserve this limbo that he is in.  For that matter neither do his mother or I.  We just want the care that he needs, we want what the state agreed to when his adoption was finalized.

I guess above all, what I remember each day is this.  He is my son.  That will never change.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Why do we view mental illness with negativity?

In the news each day, we see and read about people.  People like Adam Lanza, and others who destroyed the lives of many.  We never hear about the people who have mental illness yet don’t destroy the lives of others.

Why?  Sure the state of mental illness, and the treatment of those with mental illness is abysmal in our country, but not all people with mental illness are bad.

The things that we think and do not say.

In the latter half of the 20th century there was a push to de-institutionalize.  By and large this was mostly a success.  People deserve to live in the community.  Everyone deserves that chance.

However.  Have we gone too far the other way?  I know, some of my readers will rake me over the coals with this question.  But it needs to be asked.

When families have no options for treatment and care of their mentally ill loved ones, what options are there?

We can lodge them in facilities half a day or more away from their home, or we can keep them at home and hope that they don’t destroy the very people that are trying to protect them.

Is less treatment option really the best thing here?

At the time of de-institutionalization, we didn’t have the backyard chemists that we have today manufacturing drugs out of household chemicals and other things that carry large “Hazardous” labels.  If the stuff can kill you without being mixed into other products and smoked, injected or absorbed, then what kind of affect is it having on the minds of the children In utero?

You don’t have to look far for an example.  David is such a child.  He was born addicted to that crap.  And now, while he is largely stable in his current placement, that could change at the drop of a hat.  If we brought him home, there is no reason for him to continue to remain stable.  Right now, it is my belief that he is doing everything that he can to get out of placement.

That can be good, but.  We have seen David do this before.  He worked his program three years ago, came home and tried to kill our family pets.  Sure it was the pets, but… they are part of the family.  What if it had been one of his siblings?  or his mother?  or me?

This post isn’t me saying I want to get rid of my son.  This post is me saying he needs long term help.  Sadly, there are few options available for kids like David.  As he gets older, the options become fewer until he does something so severe that he gets a prison sentence.

Is it wrong of me to want to prevent him from doing something so severe that he gets a prison sentence?

I want nothing more than for David to become a productive member of society.  Given the limited options available for treatment of the mentally ill in this country, I don’t see a lot of hope for that to happen.

 

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

travelling to see David, a sadness.

We live on the great plains of our country.  Northern Great Plains.  we are about 550 miles from the residential facility where David lives.

I wish we had train service between here and there.  The nearest depot to his residence is like 5 hours.

the last Amtrak went into Billings, MT in 1979.  With the cost of fuel the way it is, I wonder if they would reestablish it… probably not.

for those who recommend bus travel, my body wouldn’t do well sitting in one place for that length of time.

ah well, car it is.

the kids are putting every coin they can find into the piggy bank for us to go see him.  even offered their birthday money.

makes my heart sad that I can’t do better.  But my disability check only goes so far.