Challenging the Paradigm & Systems of Care for Mental Illness

A thought provoking article:

Help Us Help Our Children

Feminism has been failing the mothers of people with serious mental illnesses.

By Susan Inman, Sept. 3, 2010, TheTyee.ca

I have been doing a lot of public speaking lately about my experiences being the parent of someone who has a catastrophic mental illness. Mainly I speak to audiences that are full of other parents, mostly mothers, in similar circumstances. I always ask the parents in the audience to raise their hands if they've been blamed, at some point, by mental health professionals for their child's disorder. There are very few people who haven't gone through this ordeal.

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My comments:

As a social worker and a human rights advocate I have a mixture of academic, experiential and theoretical knowledge on the topic of mental illness, working with children, youth, adults and families with mental illness. Amongst other foundations to my practice, I count feminist and deconstructivist theories as important to my work with individuals and families.

Having worked with many, many people with various mental illnesses and spoken with, or worked with their families, psychiatric illness is not a socially constructed state of being. I would suggest any person reading this sit by while a trained MH professional completes a psychiatric/mental status assessment of an individual who is in a psychotic state. There are objective observations, behaviour and self-reported psychotic phenomenon that individuals often can articulate that are consistent across cultures, times and places. The impacts on global functioning are very apparent and lead to a general diminished quality of life.

I would encourage the author to get to the heart of some of the arguments of some of the anti-psychiatry feminists and others. Substantial evidence exists that women have been and continue to be diagnosed and pathologized in numbers far disproportionate to men, often by male psychiatrists. As mentioned, Freud's labelling of women as possessing "hysteria" likely caused significant harm (and covered up the likely sexual abuse of many girls in Victorian times) and this is a legacy women still live with (see Borderline Personality Disorder). Labelling does create stigma and there is substantive research in the area of disability and employment that demonstrates that people with mental disabilities are much more likely to suffer discrimination in the workforce and elsewhere.

I have spoken to women who, in the past, have been involuntarily committed by family members, often parents, because they were perceived to be defiant, non-conformist and not following rules. The movie "Girl, Interrupted" is a good example of that, as is the classic "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Psychiatric systems give their medical personnel absolute control, power and authority to pathologize and objectify clients. Anyone who has ever worked in the hierarchical medical system can attest to the control exerted over the committed. We must acknowledge that such extreme power has in the past and in the present can lead to abuses of the rights of people with mental illness. And even if they are empowered enough to make waves, their complaints often fall on deaf ears and can lead to more system-serving pathologizing of the individual.

In saying this though, accurate diagnosis, multi-model treatment, including medication and effective holistic recovery and rehabilitation can save lives, I've seen it firsthand and been part of treatment of clients who quite likely would not be alive today if they didn't get the help they needed. There is a reason the suicide rate is higher for individuals with schizophrenia, other psychotic and other classes of disorders.

I agree with Ms. Inman that many individuals going into the field do not receive adequate education, training and professional development in dealing with mental health and psychiatric illness. As a social worker and student, it was only my own initiative in writing papers and researching MH topics that I increased my knowledge of these topics that are crucial in working in every capacity in the social work profession. It doesn't matter what area you practice in - child protection, geriatric, health, etc. the mental health and sometimes illness of your clients, or family members will, at some point, become relevant to your practice.

One of the most important and pressing issues that was not mentioned in this article is the profound failure of the federal and provincial governments to fund and create an accessible, integrated, and effective continuum and system for mental health care. Since 2008, the BC government has failed to follow up, or create a plan for mental health and addictions. Instead, they have sat by and allowed their Health Authorities to gut MH and addictions community and hospital services and programs around the province.This is will impact almost all of us given enough time.

People gnash their teeth and point fingers at the mentally ill when tragic crimes occur when those same people often could only access mental health services after they are charged for criminal offenses. Canada is going the way of the U.S. our jails are becoming the default psychiatric institutions for individuals who cannot access mental health care in the community and that is just plain wrong and it is heartbreaking for people with mental illness, their families and society.

For those who are interested in expanding their knowledge and expertise, I would highly recommend "Mental health social work practice in Canada" by Regeher and Glancy.

Gutting the Community Living & Social Service sectors Continues

BC Liberal platform: Goal #3 - Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk and seniors.

While we've all been away, enjoying our summer, our vacations and life has been moving a little bit slower, the Province has been busy continuing to slash and cut away at the services that our most vulnerable citizens and their families depend on. The very quality of life of many has been downgraded and changed with little recognition, or notice by most of us.

As an advocate, blogger and media spokesperson, I've had my share of contact from family members and individuals working in the community living and social service sectors about the difficulties and challenges they've had trying to ensure developmentally disabled loved ones receive even marginal services and supports. Many have felt powerless and heartbroken as they've struggled through the many changes of the sector over the last decade. Many have had to fight so hard for the rights of their loved ones to receive what they need, whether that is appropriate group home care, support services in the community or even their basic human rights and safety while in the care of some community service sector homes.

One thing many have learned is that there is very little in the way of oversight, accountability or leadership overseeing and monitoring the decisions made in the community living sector. Many have slammed up against walls when real and serious issues of abuse and neglect have occurred. The ability to manage the maltreatment of those they care about has been the impetus to many to become strong and loud advocates in the pursuit of justice and human rights for those who cannot voice their own issues, or advocate for themselves. The commitment and care of these family members, advocates and those working in the field has humbled and inspired me and I've felt truly honoured that people shared their stories, struggles and sometimes, their rare successes with me over the years.

I am deeply concerned and disappointed that the BC government is allowing the monster of their creation, the ill-fated and profoundly mismanaged Community Living BC, to cut the supports and resources of the developmentally disabled in BC. Individuals with disabilities and their families do not need to jump through more hoops, do not need to spend more time on bureaucratic nonsense. We should be making things easier and making access to services and supports, including various residential and housing options more seamless, effective and client-centred.

The real story behind all of this is not well known. Now that Community Living Children's Services and their buckets of money have been transferred back to the MCFD mothership, CLBC is faced with empty cupboards where there used to be slush funds to apply to whatever the Powers that Be, decided were the spending priorities. All with no oversight, or monitoring of the decisions of managing vast public funds.

After years of working in the social service field and public sector, I've concluded that BC requires a dedicated, independent provincial Advocate for Vulnerable People who will oversee, monitor and report on the issues facing vulnerable people in the province. This includes the Community Living sector, people with mental illness and senior citizens.

Until there is an independent advocate and spokesperson for vulnerable people in BC, the gutting of the systems of care tasked with the provision of services will continue unabated. The results will be that some of our most fragile and marginalized people will continue to be victimized and mistreated by the very government and systems that should be setting the highest standards of practice and care and demonstrating leadership in optimizing the quality of life for those who require our support and assistance most. When the actions of government and society toward our most vulnerable citizens are assessed and judged, we can see we have much work ahead to raise the bar in BC for those who need us to make them the focus and priority of a caring and just society.

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Disabled being uprooted, care reduced B.C. government agency accused of duping public about group homes

Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist June 25, 2010

The B.C. government is misleading the public about its move to cut costs by closing group homes for the developmentally disabled, say families and caregivers.

The relatives accuse Community Living B.C. of pressuring local agencies to shutter facilities that are staffed 24 hours a day, and push people into less-expensive living arrangements, such as home-sharing with a caregiver.

The families say they are given little notice or chance to appeal the decisions. Instead, local companies and non-profit associations are telling them the closures are necessary because Community Living B.C. has slashed their budgets.

The Times Colonist interviewed people with relatives at group homes in Victoria, Powell River and Maple Ridge who all say Community Living B.C. is duping the public.

"A lot of the comments that they've made, to me, are just outright lies," said Julie Achadinha of Victoria.

Achadinha said she doesn't blame the Victoria company that runs the group home, believing it is simply following government orders. "They're basically having to do this kind of thing because CLBC is pressuring them by saying they don't have the money to fund one-on-one services and all of that," she said.

Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman admitted in the legislature earlier this year that CLBC is looking for about $22 million in "efficiencies" that it can use to meet a growing demand for services.

The B.C. Association for Community Living and other advocates for the disabled believe government expects to recover that money largely by closing group homes.

Indeed, Coleman told the legislature that a group home costs about $100,000 a year per client to operate, while semi-independent living might cost only $40,000. He said that person would be shifted to cheaper living arrangements only if it was also in their best interest.

Click on the link above to read more.

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Group thinking

Sean Holman, Public Eye Online, August 27, 2010

Special approval is now required for developmental disabled individuals to receive government-funding to live in a group home, Public Eye has learned. The directive is included in an internal draft policy Community Living British Columbia is using when determining new living arrangements for those individuals, as well as when existing arrangements come up for review.

Here's how it works: staff score a developmental disabled individual's needs on a scale of one to five - with one being the lowest level of need and five being the highest. Those who score between one to three qualify for anywhere from one to 21 hours per week of supported living assistance.

Like those with greater needs, those individuals could also quality to share a home with a support worker. But special approval from one of Community Living British Columbia's four regional operations directors is required for a developmentally disabled individual to qualify to live in a group home - where support is provided by a team that works in 24-hour shifts at the residence.

An accompanying document advises staff the policy is "not available to the public" but can be "shared" with the families of those with developmental disabilities, as well as service providers.

The disclosure of this policy comes two months after the Times Colonist's Lindsay Kines reported accusations that Community Living British Columbia is "pressuring local agencies" to close group homes and and "push people into less-expensive living arrangements, such as home-sharing with a caregiver." The authority has denied those accusations.

In an email to Public Eye, Community Living British Columbia external relations advisor Kate Chandler confirmed the policy is being used to "evaluate new services" and "if a need is identified to change existing services for some individuals."

For example, "staff may review services due to health and safety concerns in existing cases, and/or if the individual or family has made a request for new or additional service. In some cases, people's needs have changed over time and their services need to be adjusted to meet their current needs."

As for why Community Living British Columbia is using a draft policy to make these decision, the spokesperson stated the authority is trying to get "feedback from staff, families and service providers, which will be used to develop our finalized documents."

Ms. Chandler didn't directly respond when asked why the authority is keeping that policy from the public.

The following is a complete copy of the aforementioned documents.

Community Living British Columbia catalogue of services policy

By Sean Holman | Posted in Provincial | Comments (0)
Tagged: Community Living British Columbia, developmental disabilities, group homes, Kat Chandler

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UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on March 11, 2010.

Article 3 - General principles

The principles of the present Convention shall be:

1. Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons;
2. Non-discrimination;
3. Full and effective participation and inclusion in society;
4. Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity;
5. Equality of opportunity;
6. Accessibility;
7. Equality between men and women;
8. Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities.

Article 19 - Living independently and being included in the community

States Parties to the present Convention recognize the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others, and shall take effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community, including by ensuring that:

a) Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and are not obliged to live in a particular living arrangement;

b) Persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home, residential and other community support services, including personal assistance necessary to support living and inclusion in the community, and to prevent isolation or segregation from the community;

c) Community services and facilities for the general population are available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and are responsive to their needs.

B.C.'s Mental Health Services: Chronically Underfunded & Understaffed.

Editorial: Mental services need a major overhaul

The Province, July 29, 2010.

How does our health system do when it comes to treating people with serious psychiatric illnesses? Very poorly, according to Vancouver forensic social worker Tracey Young, who says B.C.'s mental-health services are chronically underfunded and understaffed.

Young said time and time she's heard from family members who were heartbroken as they watched the deteriorating mental health of their loved ones - and powerless as they found hospital and other doors slammed in their face.

Young cited the tragic case of Kimberly Ruth Noyes, of Grand Forks, who was charged with second-degree murder in the 2009 slaying of 12-year-old neighbour John David Fulton.

In court last Friday, she was found not criminally responsible, due to a mental disorder.

Noyes' sisters had testified in court that for years they'd tried to have Kimberly committed.

And the Fulton family said Tuesday it was clear she was a danger to children: "Yet she was released back into the community over and over again."

Health services spokesman Karl Hardt said services in the region were well-resourced, but officials were very limited in what they could force a person to take advantage of.

"This was an extremely rare case," he noted.

Our view, though, is this is simply an extreme example of what is all too common in B.C., namely a lack of proper treatment for those with serious mental illnesses and a lack of support for their distraught families.

© The Province License 2010.

Crack is #1 in BC: What are We doing About It?

Having met more than my fair share of crack users and addicts in my frontline work, I've come to learn this is just the most brutal drug to get off of and stay off. It just messes people up and keeps them coming back for more and more and more.

I've known a couple who have been long poly-drug users, main drug of choice is crack and one thing that has helped them and the entire community immensely has been that they've been able to maintain housing for years. They've taught me a lot. They volunteer in the community, they're both dealing with the health impacts of a life of high-risk behaviour (HIV, Hep). They've got housing, so they can live a more stable life, albeit one still addicted. They care about each other, about their family and their community.

I wish we could figure out a way to create the kind of low-barrier (ie. hard to house) housing that is the first step for containing the harm done by people who are cycling through crack and poly-drug addiction. Help people access health care, mental health/psychiatric care. The solutions are available. They won't work for every single person, people quite literally fry their brains for good after a while of doing dope for so long. It's smart and good public policy for us to take care of people. It decreases the damage done too.

One story that comes to mind to look at the harm that can result from the devastation of crack addiction is the story of the Brotherson family:

Former Victoria-area Councillor Not Guilty of Murder

Steven Kelliher, who represented the Brotherstons, told the court that Taylor had tried to extort $100,000 from Ken Brotherston and his sons, who were both crack addicts.

He said several of the key witnesses who were in the house at the time of Taylor's death were also crack addicts, as was Taylor himself.

Kelliher said the Brotherstons were simply defending themselves from a houseful of delusional and paranoid drug addicts who had been bingeing for days.

The Brotherston Trial - Drugs, Death on the West Shore

Inside the trial of a former Highlands councillor and his two sons, found not guilty of murder

Louise Dickson, February 1, 2010, Times Colonist.

Crown prosecutor Carmen Rogers painted Brotherston Sr. as a man desperate to protect his sons, a father dragged against his will into their crack world, forced to clean up their messes, pay off their drug debts, take them to hospital, pay for rehab.

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Crack Use Biggest Street Drug Street Problem in BC

VANCOUVER – Crack use is the No. 1 street drug problem in many communities in B.C. but the issue does not get as much attention as it deserves.

And as crack use rises in Canada, so does the urgent need for targeted prevention and treatment programs—especially in smaller communities. That’s the conclusion of a new study led by Simon Fraser University health sciences researcher Benedikt Fischer.

In a paper to be published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy next month, Fischer’s team documents a recent investigation of the social, health and drug-use characteristics of 148 primary crack users in three mid-sized B.C. communities: Nanaimo, Campbell River and Prince George.

Past studies have focused on larger urban settings and confirm that crack users are more likely than other drug users to face significant health problems such as HIV, Hepatitis C virus (HCV), sexually transmitted diseases, and mental illness. They also feature a distinct social profile characterized by extreme poverty, homelessness and illegal income generation.

Fischer’s study focused on crack users in non-urban communities to determine their unique characteristics and how best to target and deliver prevention and treatment programs in rural settings.

Among the study’s key findings:

· In addition to their drug habits, participants were compromised by unstable housing, illegal incomes and frequent encounters with the criminal justice system—a combination putting them at a “crucially elevated risk” of health problems
· Participants displayed a “high prevalence” of concurrent physical and mental health problems
· Crack use tended to occur in conjunction with the use of a variety of other legal and illegal “psychoactive substances,” including alcohol, cocaine and opioids
· Participants exhibited HIV and HCV rates similar to rates observed in primary injection-drug users; alarmingly, many users with HCV did not know they were infected
· Subjects assembled their crack-use paraphernalia mostly from high-risk materials such as scrap metal, metal piping or broken glass, leading to oral burns, cuts and other mouth injuries conducive to infectious disease transmission
· Most participants “saw any attempt to quit crack as a futile effort” given the current acute lack of viable treatment options

Citing the “high prevalence of crack use” across Canada, the study calls for “the comprehensive improvement of preventive and treatment intervention services,” specifically:

· Improved resources and training for health workers to address the complex and intertwined health challenges faced by crack users
· Improved accessibility to infectious-disease testing in the study locations
· “Crack kit” distribution programs that include information on prevention and health care
· Safer inhalation facilities for crack users, akin to those found in Europe
· More research into and expansion of treatment options

Says Fischer: “In many B.C. communities, crack use is the number one street drug problem, yet we give it much lower attention than other forms of drug use.

“We need better and more targeted prevention and treatment for crack use in order to reduce its enormous negative public health impact.”

The study was supported by funds from the B.C. Ministry of Healthy Living and Sports, the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

- SFU.

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Drug Crack-down Needed in Small-town BC

Shannon Smart, July 23, 2010. The Hook.

What Would you Do if you went Crazy & there was No Help? Go Crazier, of Course!

What would you do if you saw your child talking back to voices and things that weren't there? If your spouse started becoming paranoid and telling you they were being spied on and people were following them? If your aging parent starts hoarding things and telling you stories about people knocking them down and hurting them? What if your loved one becomes a person you do not know right before your eyes?

These are all signs and symptoms of mental illness. And unchecked, they will get much, much worse, to the pain of everyone. It is a tragedy that every day in this province people, children, youth and adults, who have a legitimate mental health care needs often do not get the help and support they need before things go from bad to worse.

Mental health and addiction services in BC are being decimated, the old death by a thousands cuts method of "austerity," to the neoCon crowd. The problem is that it's all adding up to one HUGE MISTAKE. For everyone.

• People with mental illness need multi-disciplinary and timely care and help.
• They need assessment. They need treatment. People sometimes need medications. And many need case management.
  
• People also often need counselling to help them deal with the often painful realities of living with a serious mental illness - the stigma, the marginalization, the difficulty accessing affordable housing and adequate incomes if they are on disability.
• Sometimes they need hospitalization to stabilize and to stop themselves from harming themselves, or others. Not everyone. But some.
• They need affordable housing, a continuum - from supportive to independent.
• Family members need help and support too. Information, knowledge and to be considered part of the care team of the individual.
• People with mental illness need and deserve dignity, compassion, human rights and social justice.
  

I have heard the stories of those who tried to get their loved ones help to prevent tragedy from occurring. Watching a train wreck in action where they are shouting but no-one is listening, or helping as the loved one yells for someone to help and care. Nobody should have to go through that, the individual who needs care or the family and friends. Mental health care is a human right.

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Mental Health Has to Beg for Leftovers
Jody Paterson, Special to Times Colonist July 2, 2010

Alan Campbell couldn't believe the kind of care and support his wife received after being diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago.

The speedy treatment. The kind words. The follow-up calls and offers of support. It was an amazing experience, says Campbell -- and all the more striking when compared to the level of care his own clients typically see.

Campbell has spent the last 34 years working in B.C.'s mental-health system, most recently as director of mental health and addictions for the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

I'm sure he would have liked to have been finishing off his career this week reflecting on the tremendous gains made around mental-health care in his time. That's certainly been the case for breast cancer and for many other major health concerns that we've tackled with fervour in the last three decades.

Alas, Campbell retired Wednesday from a field that is very nearly as underfunded, misunderstood and stigmatized as it was when he got into it in 1976. Had his wife been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia instead of breast cancer, her family's journey through a fractured and overwhelmed mental-health system would have been very, very different from the experience they had at the tender hands of the B.C. Cancer Agency.

Why is that? Why does one disease get the resources it needs to do things exactly right, and another have to beg for leftovers at the back of the line?

Mental illness affects one in five people on Vancouver Island, 20 per cent, yet its share of health-care spending is a mere eight per cent.

In B.C. overall, spending on mental health and addictions accounts for just six per cent of the health budget.

"We haven't figured out how to get behind mental health as a country," says Campbell. "It's not just a problem here. In other regions, other provinces, the same dynamic exists. When we compare ourselves to other countries, we don't look good."

Campbell's final months at VIHA can't have been fun, what with the outrage building in the local psychiatric community over the loss of even more mental-health services.

In recent weeks, a doctor with the Schizophrenia Affective Disorders Clinic, Dr. Adam Gunn, resigned over the cuts. Dr. Anthony Barale has closed his outpatient service at Victoria General Hospital for people with brain injuries, saying he can't support a system that's failing patients and their families.

Dr. Andre Masters noted those resignations in a letter to the editor last month, and says more are likely coming. VIHA's Department of Psychiatry passed a motion last fall condemning everything about the way budget deliberations were handled at VIHA.

Yes, there's an urgent need for more spending on mental-health services, says Campbell. But when his department takes that message forward, the answer is usually "no," he adds.

"For every one of the five years I've been doing this job, we've put forward strong, well-reasoned cases for more funding," he says of his department. "The only time we were successful was in getting money for the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness. My understanding is that our requests are given real consideration, but they just don't fare well in the end."

Nor does it go well when VIHA starts moving money around on the Island, taking funding away from places like Victoria and Nanaimo in order to provide more services in places like Port Hardy and Duncan. Mental-health services may be insufficient in Greater Victoria, but they're downright dismal elsewhere on the Island, says Campbell.

The economy will eventually improve, of course, and brighter days will dawn for many of the health, education and social services under the knife right now.

But that won't get to the fundamental problem plaguing mental-health services, which is that they are buried at the bottom of the priority list for health spending even in the best of economic times.

Once upon a time, cancer treatment was poorly funded and misunderstood as well. But brilliant minds as far back as 1938 saw a way to address that problem, and the foundations of what would eventually become the B.C. Cancer Agency were put in place.

Its mandate and practices are everything that health care should be: Consistent and thorough; well-resourced; research-based; thoughtful. It's a made-in-B.C. blueprint for doing things differently around mental health. So is the province's new

10-year mental-health plan, if it's able to become something more than just words on paper.

What can you do in the meantime?

Write B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon (kevin.falcon.mla@leg.bc.ca)

Health Canada Minister Leona Aglukkaq (aglukkaq.l@parl.gc.ca)

Tell them that mental-health care matters. Governments won't change unless we make them.

patersoncommunications@gmail.com

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Underground Foster Care: Over 10,000 Grandparent Households Raising Grandchildren in BC

Grandparents struggle to raise grandkids

Many struggle financially and emotionally. Does anybody care?

BY Barb Whittington,

Special to Times Colonist

June 23, 2010

Across B.C., more than 10,000 households with children are headed by grandparents. Since the Canadian census started tracking the number of households headed by grandparents, the numbers have risen significantly.

Who are these extended families who care for more children in B.C. than there are kids in foster care?

Here's a glimpse into two such households.

Dianne, 55, lives in a community up-Island. Her daughter suffers from mental illness and often cannot get the help she needs.

During a time when she was doing OK, she had twin girls. Soon, she wasn't doing well and became more and more distant from family and friends.

One evening, Grandma Dianne received a phone call from a ministry worker who said something like: "Can you take your grandkids or should they go into foster care? Likely if they go into care and your daughter still is unwell we would move toward adoption by a healthy family."

Dianne said yes, although she knew it would likely mean quitting work and having to move from her adult-only building. "They didn't even bring any clothes or a crib or a car seat for me," she recalls.

But the thought of the girls not being with family was something she couldn't consider.

Since that phone call five years ago, there have been many struggles, financial and emotional. The girls are now seven and doing better in school and the nightmares are easing.

Dianne went through legal aid and, at the urging of the ministry, applied for legal guardianship of the girls. She is not eligible for any help through the newly announced Extended Family Program because she has guardianship.

What would the situation be if the children had gone into foster care that evening?

From my past experience as a child protection social worker and my present experience as a registered counsellor and researcher, the children would not have fared as well. They could have been in a number of foster homes, might even have been split up, and in all likelihood they would have suffered emotionally from the lack of permanence and birth family in their wee lives.

Financially and emotionally, the costs are high.

Another grandparent couple (most are single grandmothers, most living below the poverty line) I would like you to meet are Johan and Fay.

Their son tried to raise his son Adam for a number of years after his wife committed suicide. Following a work-related injury, the father started using prescribed pain medication and now has a full-blown drug addiction.

Grandparents Johan, 70, and Fay, 68, live on a pension income. Following many frightening episodes with their son, they refused to let Adam, then 12, return to his dad. Adam said he was afraid of some of his dad's friends and worried when his dad went to sleep and he couldn't waken him. That reminds him of his mom's death.

There was one worker they had who really talked to Adam. Soon she was gone and now the family thinks that 'flying below the radar' might be best: "Adam doesn't do well with change and we are worried if we ask for any help that representative lady will see us as bad because I was once charged with assault trying to help my son."

Adam needs some school help from a tutor because of learning disabilities and he'd like to join cadets but both are beyond their budget. Grandma Fay says, "Someone might help, but we won't beg."

The Representative for Children and Youth's office says all families receiving payments need to be re-screened.

The children's ministry says there might be some new help for some grandparents but it would be reviewed every six months and you can't be a guardian. Do these ideas make sense?

While they argue, grandparents taking on the raising of their grandchildren need to be celebrated and supported.

The support shouldn't be temporary and you shouldn't be excluded if you followed ministry "orders" and went to court to get guardianship so your grandchildren would be safe and secure.

Adam and the little grandgirls know their grandparents care about them -- but who else does?

Barb Whittington is a professor in the University of Victoria school of social work, editor of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Legal Guide (2009) and a grandmother in training.

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

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From Parent Support Services Society of BC

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Circles and Resources
GRG Support Circles are weekly to monthly support and information meetings for grandparents and other relatives who are the primary caregivers of grandchildren /nieces and nephews.Learn More

"Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Legal Guide" and Resource Book for Grandparents Publications

The GRG Pamphlet can be downloaded here - GRG. Legal Issues and Resources: A Brief BC Introduction (PDF)

The GRG Guide can be downloaded here - GRG: A Legal Guide (PDF)

The GRG Resource Booklet can be downloaded here - GRG: A Resource Booklet (PDF)

Lives are Lost When Systems are Cut: Mental health in BC

Failure of System Spirals into Family Tragedy
Jack Knox, Times Colonist, June 16 2010

Excerpts:

Her parents desperately tried to get her help, but there was always a barrier, a box that couldn't be ticked, to prevent her from getting into a program or facility. "There was always something that didn't fit," George says. Most of the time, the system would spit her back out, so it fell to her parents to pick up the pieces on their own.

Her parents' pleas that she needed to be in a psychiatric hospital with ongoing treatment fell on deaf ears. Laura lost 100 pounds.

On April 7, she went to court, where the court-appointed psychiatrist suggested federal time -- two years plus -- so that she could get better mental-health treatment not available at the provincial system. The judge agreed.

A week later, on April 19, 2009, Laura Schellenberg finally gave up. She hanged herself in the family home. She was 34 years old.

"The judicial and mental-health systems don't converse," says Alice. "They don't know what to do with these people," says George. "It is no use throwing good money after bad if the system is dysfunctional."

More of the story

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My comments:

It would be helpful if people really understood the broad strokes of what is happening in the mental health and addictions areas, as well the criminal justice system (not to mention income assistance, housing, health care...). Things are being taken apart, brick by brick, what do we think happens when this is how governments "work" these days.

300 individuals in Victoria used to have MH case management and treating psychiatrists. With the stroke of a pen, all of those people lost that community MH care. Eric Martin Pavilion lost 10 beds in 2009. Beds have been slashed for the homeless in Victoria. As have community agencies.
This is happening around the province of BC.

FYI - Riverview Hospital has not entirely shut down but it is well along the way to it. Part of what individuals, families and communities are experiencing is people who desperately require adult tertiary psychiatric care are out on the streets and suffering terribly. One thing people can do is let your elected officials, both MLA's and MP's, know that MH & addictions funding is a priority for your communities and for people who need it.

This story illustrates the painful story of a woman who could not get the care she needed and her parents (any of us could be in their shoes as a relative) who slammed up against the walls that prevent better accessibility to MH care. When people don't get it, they do terrible, tragic things to themselves and others.
People with mental illness deserve to live with dignity, support and timely and responsive care just like any of us expect for our health.

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Mental Health Gaps Deadly for Too Many
Marilyn Erickson, Times Colonist, June 16, 2010

The recent tragic death of Justin Wendland should be a call to action for all levels of government, but in particular the Vancouver Island Health Authority, who sit at the table with the Health Ministry and have failed to convince them of the need for action.

As an addiction worker, too many times I've had clients released from psychiatric emergency while still struggling with suicidal or threatening thoughts and behaviour. In all cases they have gone on to commit violent acts or tragically taken their own lives, when a successful intervention, psychiatric care and lengthy stay may have prevented it.

Last week, a client was admitted twice and twice he was released the following day while still threatening harm to himself or others and struggling with his addictive behaviour. He was a danger to others in that state, and predictably attempted the following night to take his own life.

Admitted back to psych emerg and found certifiable, he was unable to obtain a bed and was again released in less than 24 hours with a prescription for medication but no followup co-ordinated care plan. It happens often and it is unconscionable and unacceptable!

Additional money for the underfunded, understaffed Archie Courtnall Centre at the Royal Jubilee Hospital is a priority, as is a 24/7 drop-in centre offering immediate care for the mentally ill and addicted, many whom we know are homeless and unable to cope without supports in place.

Along with affordable housing, we must have access to more immediate and longer treatment options, including at least 20 new crisis beds.

Recent cuts at VIHA eliminated beds at Eric Martin Pavilion just when we need them the most.

The problem needs to be funded and addressed immediately or we will have more senseless tragedies.

Marilyn Erickson

Victoria

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