Hi plivnik,

Your concern is touching and I understand you want your husband's sister to be well taken care of since it could be debatable whether she can care for herself or her daughter at this point.

It strikes me that the criteria of his sister not being able to care for her daughter would be the prerequisite that would enable you to obtain legal guardianship of the daughter if necessary.

I do not know of a group home or assisted living facility in the U.S. that would allow an adult woman to live in the residence with her daughter.  In a lot of places in the U.S. such housing also prohibits married couples or boyfriend/girlfriend couples or same sex couples from living together in mental health housing.

This is a sad state of affairs.

I regret to say that the option that came to my mind was legal guardianship of the daughter while the mother lives in a group home or other residence.

Please if you pursue that option research the group homes and assisted living centers carefully so that you're satisfied the professionals are caring and above-board and that the residence is reputable.

I know I'm going to get flak for assuming your statement of "fairly severe schizophrenia" equates with the sister's inability to take care of her child.  However I say this because I made a full recovery from schizophrenia and decided many, many years ago not to give birth to kids for the very reason that maintaining my recovery was a full-time job and my number-one priority.

I doubt I could handle raising a kid and navigating my own recovery, and by the way I have a Masters degree and a professional job.  So I do not take lightly your concern about what to do mostly because when you say the sister has severe schizophrenia, I do question whether the symptoms are under control with her current medication.

She can of course be a good mother that is not necessarily the question.  However the reality is that some people diagnosed with schizophrenia do not and will not recover to the level that other people with the same illness do.  They will have greater challenges throughout their lives compared to others.

So your concern is a valid, compassionate and practical one.

Now I'm going to let other community members here weigh in.

For extra support you might want to contact your local NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness office to find out if they know of suitable living arrangements for a woman with severe schizophrenia in her city or town.  Call the National NAMI hotline at (800) 950-NAMI (6264) and speak with a hotline volunteer who might also have a good idea about your options.

Regards,

Christina

plivnik

6/23/10 8:47pm

Thanks for your reply--it is very helpful and compassionate!

plivnik

6/28/10 7:20pm

Hi Christina!

 

I'd like to ask a follow-up question.  I'm not sure if my in-laws have made financial provisions for their daughter.  If they haven't, what will our options be?  I believe the sister gets disability payments from the government.  Will these be enough to pay for an assisted living facility?  What is the typical price range for such facilities?  We obviously want her to be well-cared for, but I'm not sure that we can contribute a great deal financially.  Thanks for all your help!

Christina Bruni, Health Guide

7/11/10 8:44pm

Hello,

 

The price could be $5,000 a month though I would say not less than $3,000 a month.  U.S. government disability checks will pay for the mental health housing and give the patient / resident the remainder of their check as a personal allowance.  I lived in a halfway house on Staten Island and then in a housing project where the advanced level of residential mental health housing was location.  The project was drug-ridden and cockroach-infested and I was able to get my first job as an administrative assistant so I could save up money to move out.

 

Other options include some type of "family care" as it's called where the patient / resident lives in a home with maybe two or three other residents that a family takes in to earn money.  I used to volunteer my time as a ComPeer or community peer for a senior citizen women where I would go to her residence and spend time with her, it was a volunteer job I held for two years.

 

I had forgotten about this original volunteer job until I started responding to you.

 

The short answer to this long reply is to research your mental health housing options for the sister.  NAMI members at your local affiliate might know of a good, reputable option staffed by caring professionals.  Call (800) 950-NAMI (6264) to find the name and phone number of your local affiliate.

 

Since the government would pay for her mental health housing I doubt you would have to contribute anything if at all unless perhaps giving her twenty five dollars every so often so she could go out and enjoy pizza for lunch and a matinee movie.

 

At least I know my government disability checks paid for every expense when I lived in the mental health housing.  I didn't have to pay a thing until I found my first job and I made too much money to qualify for government disability anymore.  So I had to pay about $57 out of my own pocket for three months until I moved into my own studio near the beach.

 

Lastly the in-laws should have in place a special needs trust for the sister if at all they expect to give her an inheritance.  An inheritance will enable her to risk losing her government disability income but if the parents set up a special needs trust this will enable their daughter to use the money for living expenses without jeopardizing her benefits.

 

Regards,

Christina

plivnik

7/11/10 10:08pm

Thanks again--that's very helpful!