The Living Conditions in American Group Homes for the Vulnerable: Words From the Inside

 

    Age is an inevitability and there are some mental disabilities that will stick with people for their entire lives, creating challenges out of everyday tasks that the majority of Americans wouldn’t have a problem in the slightest, like cleaning themselves up after defecating. That is the reality for some people in America. As such, they need help going about their day to day lives in order to function.

    So what are assisted living homes or known in some places as Residential Care Facilities (RCF)? They are places in which the government or some other organization provides aid to those who are disabled in some fashion by having workers help them in certain tasks, have food prepared for them and other similar acts. As such there are issues with these kinds of facilities as with any sort of shelter like services. The following are some issues that exist in the current government systems from people I personally know who are actively living in these group homes run by the state. First of all, applications to be put in the group home program are rejected if the state is already not funding the applicant in some shape fashion or form, be that disability or from being on Residential State Supplement. In part this is due to the fact that these people are not in a place to hold a steady income of some kind and that the rent pricing for these homes rivals that of a two bedroom, two bathroom townhouse in Portland Oregon at the time of writing this for a place that has a far lower quality. Speaking of which, according to multiple testimonies from people in the state funded system, the group homes, in their experience, are not in the best of shape. Currently one of them is staying in a home with almost non-existent ventilation and a mouse infestation with prolific smokers in the home to give an idea of some of the conditions that can exist in these systems. Another major flaw in these places is that everyone receives the same standardized standard of care regardless of their needs, illnesses or disabilities. For instance a person that is unable to clean up after themselves after they’ve self defecated and a person who is mostly functional but has severe depressive episodes would receive the same standard and type of care, which is woefully inadequate for the person who is in dire need comparatively.

    Some patients need what is referred to as a “dual diagnosis home” which is a facility that can and is licensed to provide for those with a disability of some kind and issues with substance abuse. Another description that they gave was that it was a “halfway house”. However not every person who needs these places is able to get access to them. For instance, an example they gave was an alcoholic that had other issues they did not want to get into that instead of being given the care they needed, was kicked out onto the street instead due to the staff “not wanting to deal with them anymore”.

So how do we help?

    There’s not a one stop solution for this issue sadly. Over the last decade or so more private organizations are taking it upon themselves to provide centers in areas that the state will not, but that can’t cover everyone in a current existing group home. We need to push for a better quality of care for these people alongside supporting the existing private organizations and giving support for community run homes for this vulnerable population. Another point that is vitally important is the number of homes that exist in the state is far under the estimated amount of people that need their services. The more people that can be helped, the more that can be given a place back in the world we call normal.

How Important is this?

    These are the most vulnerable people in our population. They cannot live a normal life without help from someone else. In Oregon there are 7 organizations that cover most of the state with still over a dozen counties not receiving any of these Centers for Independent Living as the Oregon Department of Human Services refers to them. The fact that these people are not being given the aid they need in many cases is an ethical catastrophe. Everyone is equal are they not? Then they should be given the opportunity to live a normal life for as long as they can. If not? That’s how you get hundreds of thousands of people living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, living like rats. 

-Map of Current CIL Coverage

If you’re interested in learning more about this issue or contacting someone to make a difference, click on one of the links below:

https://newnarrativepdx.org/discover-what-we-do/housing/

https://www.westsidecommunityfocus.org/services/group-homes

http://www.rainbowadultliving.org

https://www.mentororegon.com/idd-services/adult-services/residential-homes/

https://www.shangrilaoregon.org/mhresidential

References

National Institute of Mental Health. (2023, March). Mental illness. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness

Oregon Department of Human Services : Independent Living Services for Individuals with Disabilities : Aging and Disability Services : State of Oregon. (n.d.). Www.oregon.gov. Retrieved December 2, 2023, from https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/aging-disability-services/pages/independent-living-services.aspx