What happens to the ill destitute w/o family?

[CaseyMiller]

Anybody have any insight as to what happens to the destitute that become ill and have no family willing to help them?

The family drama I'm going thru has made me realize how easy it would be for someone to end up alone, sick and destitute.

I know there are many government agencies available to help the destitute but the onus is on the needy to reach out the agency. And, the processing could be complicated and take a long time. What if the person is emotionally or physically unable to pursue help on their own?

I would guess they get pulled into some assistance after going to hospital emergency but I'm not sure.

Really, given the high rate of breakdown in the family structure and the transient nature of the US, I'm somewhat surprised seeing dead people lying by the side of the road isn't more common place.

[bUU]

It is something that many of us are concerned about and work hard to bolster efforts that would make such situations happen less often, as an expression of deep-seated compassion and consideration of others.

It is interesting you mentioned hospital emergency rooms. There is a real concern that this important avenue you mentioned is being compromised.
Hospitals Eliminate 1 in 4 U.S. Emergency Rooms Since 1990, Study Finds (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-17/hospitals-eliminate-1-in-4-u-s-emergency-rooms-since-1990-study-finds.html)

[SteveinMN]

I know there are many government agencies available to help the destitute but the onus is on the needy to reach out the agency. And, the processing could be complicated and take a long time. What if the person is emotionally or physically unable to pursue help on their own?

I would guess they get pulled into some assistance after going to hospital emergency but I'm not sure.
At least in the county my wife works (social services, though she does not work directly with adult clients), there pretty much has to be some sort of "intervention" -- a doctor declaring the patient unable to live independently (or to live independently without services or guardianship); police/fire/EMT declaring same (which often leads to the ED, too); mental-health professional, etc. For better or worse, people have the freedom to pursue bad habits and addictions until they start affecting others. Then, depending on the level of care the client needs, they may go to a group home or nursing home (or their own home if they have one, with help coming in as needed). If necessary, the county/state becomes the guardian for things like managing that person's life, medical care and payments, etc.

[Spartana]

Usually the court will assign a Guardian Ad Liteum (Sp?) to act as a guardian for someone who is alone and can't handle their own affairs. That will come about if the person goes to the hospital and a hospital social worker determine there is no one to help and the person can't manage on their own. Or if a neighbor calls to the policee to have a safety check on someone they know lives alone and is having difficulties. The Guardian has Power of Attorney and will handle the persons financial assets and make whatever arrangements for care that are needed- a nursing home maybe - and that those costs are paid for. Or if there are no assets to pay for their care, to apply for Medicaid to cover the costs.

But of course sometimes hospitals don't bother checking if the person - who may be physically OK once treated at a hospital but unable to care for themselves - has a home to go to or any family or other resources to care for them. There have been many cases where hospitals have just dumped people on the street (litterally) in their hospital gowns - even had an ambulence drive them to the local Skid Row - if the hospital was unable to verify the person had a home or family. This happened in LA several times (and was caught on tape) and in at least 2 cases the elderly person had both a family and a hom but were dumped in the street anyways. Not taken to a homeless shelter, not taken to an indigent hospital or nursing home even though they were obviously not coherent, jut dumped out onto the street (and often unable to walk) like a bag of trash. Absolutely horrible!!

I am a divorced childless woman with no family at all except a divorced childless sister a few years younger then me and a couple of cousins we are not close too and who are older than us anyways. So we both feel it is important to set ourselves up in the best situation we can long before we are elderly to remain not only independant as long as possible, but to assure that we have the funds to hire someone to care for us if needed. But, if something happens to those funds, I assume that I will end up in either a state run nursing home or will be that crazy cat lady running naked thru the streets when I'm 90 :-)! my hope is that I can hire a caretaker before I get to that point. Or find myself one of those young toyboys to change my Depends and give me sponge baths in exchange for inheriting all my worldly possessions when I die :-)!

[ToomuchStuff]

Really, given the high rate of breakdown in the family structure and the transient nature of the US, I'm somewhat surprised seeing dead people lying by the side of the road isn't more common place.


Seeing dead people lying by the side of the road, means people are falling down on their jobs. Clearly visible means someone is going to notice. I've had a kid that I worked with (think Shaggy from Scooby doo, looked and acted as bright), that decided to take a nap on the side of the road, walking somewhere, on a nice day. He was awoke by the police who were making sure he was alive. Dead animals, all along the same stretch, get picked up and hauled off (health dept. regs, disease, vermin and such), why wouldn't visible bodies? Yet the dead body from the transient, 400 feet off the road, in an unmowed field, was found when the field was sold and construction was about to begin. He had been dead a couple of months, and all these activities, took place in a four block stretch of a major highway.

As for ill destitute, some have no family, due to their own actions, while others have never had family. Mental health issues (someone already covered), aside, when they pass, if they have any estate, the costs of body disposal go against that. If they have none, then they are cremated, and go to a potters field (unclaimed bodies), in an unmarked grave. Local paper had an article yesterday, about the city trying to find out how many and track the local population, and that brought up the discussion about a football player, who was found destitute and they determined, he had a $88k a year pension, which he should/could have been collecting.

[Suzanne]

At least in the county my wife works (social services, though she does not work directly with adult clients), there pretty much has to be some sort of "intervention" -- a doctor declaring the patient unable to live independently (or to live independently without services or guardianship); police/fire/EMT declaring same (which often leads to the ED, too); mental-health professional, etc. For better or worse, people have the freedom to pursue bad habits and addictions until they start affecting others. Then, depending on the level of care the client needs, they may go to a group home or nursing home (or their own home if they have one, with help coming in as needed). If necessary, the county/state becomes the guardian for things like managing that person's life, medical care and payments, etc.

Why assume that the person is in a bad situation because of pursuit of bad habits and addictions?

[freein05]

People die. It does happen to the down and out in our great country.The following article was written by the sister of the man who died. She wrote a beautiful tribute to her brother in the local news. It made me think about how terrible it can be to burn bridges.

http://thepinetree.net/index.php?module=announce&ANN_user_op=view&ANN_id=33963

[SteveinMN]

Why assume that the person is in a bad situation because of pursuit of bad habits and addictions?
Not an assumption. It is a comment on the tendency of some to want to "save" others from making decisions that they don't feel are in the best interests of the "decider". People get to choose their actions, at least until those actions infringe directly on someone else.

It also harkens back to casey's original post, which, in turn, referred to a situation in casey's family in which addiction has played a key role in someone's poor health and economic situation.