Accessing Service the Creative Way
It was many years ago.
With nowhere to discharge the teen, then 16, the plan was to simply drop him off at a downtown men’s shelter.
This after a several month stay in the children’s mental health centre to get his schizophrenia under control.
I asked his parents to see me for a private meeting. While they couldn’t take him home, they certainly didn’t want this for him either.
I suggested they speak to the opposition health critic in government. I advised of a facility suitable, although slated to close within a few years. That would be better than a men’s shelter.
I also advised that they not involve me in this knowing my guidance would cost me my job.
They followed through. They got the spot for their son. He was the last person admitted to that facility. A few years there was enough to prepare him for independent living.
On another occasion I was working on behalf of a young woman whose test scores didn’t qualify her for developmental services. She missed by about 2 IQ points.
Rather than rely on the report of the psychologist, I had her seen by a psychiatrist who could more easy make the necessary diagnosis to access services. It worked. She received the care she needed.
In more recent years I consulted with a person whose adult sibling was languishing in hospital. The sibling had a developmental condition and some physical health problems now well controlled.
However the combination of special needs and necessary health support made finding a placement difficult.
The person was treated like a hot potato with no agency willing to step up.
It was clear that any placement would require coordination between a few services. Those services work in silos with little to no crossover.
As I thought about the problem I had to think that the cost of maintaining this person in hospital, not needing such a level of care, was enormous.
I wondered if by talking with the CEO, the hospital could be convinced to offer supportive nursing care to the person if placed in a community living facility.
The plan was to have the CEO call a meeting of service providers to facilitate a coordinated plan of care. A placement with mutiple agency involvement was needed. I don’t know the outcome here.
There are special needs and issues that sometimes require creative solutions as well as knowing who to press into action.
When what you are doing continues to meet a dead end, it’s time to try something else.
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I am Gary Direnfeld and I am a social worker. Check out all my services and then call me if you need help with a personal issue, mental health concern, child behavior or relationship, divorce or separation issue or even help growing your practice. I am available in person and by video conferencing.
Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW
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Gary Direnfeld is a social worker. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert in social work, marital and family therapy, child development, parent-child relations and custody and access matters. Gary is the host of the TV reality show, Newlywed, Nearly Dead, former parenting columnist for the Hamilton Spectator and author of Marriage Rescue: Overcoming the ten deadly sins in failing relationships. Gary maintains a private practice in Georgina Ontario, providing a range of services for people in distress. He speaks at conferences and workshops throughout North America. He consults to mental health professionals as well as to mediators and collaborative law professionals about good practice as well as building their practice.
Gary Direnfeld 