Keeping The Mentally Ill Out of Nursing Homes: Is Help Available?
Daniel Coleman
According to a recent Associated Press analysis, nearly 125,000 young and middle-aged adults with serious mental illnesses resided in nursing homes across the United States in 2008. In Illinois, the number of mentally ill adults under the age of 65 living in nursing homes was approximately 12,736. In Missouri, the number of mentally ill adults living in nursing homes has jumped more than 75% in the past few years. Nevertheless, placing mentally ill adults in nursing homes with elderly, vulnerable, and often defenseless residents is a recipe for disaster. The younger mentally ill residents usually are than their elderly counterparts and the end results are sometimes deadly. There are numerous instances where a mentally ill nursing home resident has injured or killed an elderly resident.
Last winter, Daniel Coleman had nowhere to go. He was homeless, mentally ill, and did not know where to turn. He went to a bus stop and began to pray - loudly. Francie Broderick heard his prayers when she walked by. As fate would have it, Francie works for Places for People, an organization that works on finding safe, cost-effective housing for the mentally ill. She tapped Daniel on the shoulder and asked him to come with her. With Francie's assistance, Daniel found a staff-supported apartment and the help he needed.
While Daniel's situation had a positive outcome, many times the mentally ill end up in nursing homes because there simply not enough housing resources to help them. One suggested way to reduce the number of young mentally ill residents in nursing homes is to attempt to find younger individuals who are able to live independently in apartments. Illinois has proposed a program, "Money Follows the Person", that will transfer nearly 700 mentally ill people out of nursing homes into apartments. The federal Medicaid money currently being paid to the nursing home will pay for support services to help these mentally ill people succeed in their new apartment life. In Missouri, Larry Fletcher with the Department of Mental Health acknowledges that the Missouri Department of Mental Health could do a better job of assisting these people with more funding. He said that the State of Missouri is working on developing some things, but that options in Missouri are limited at this time.
