Do you think they are more on the lower functioning end of the spectrum? Do you think a person living in a group home would find it easier to access social security benefits? To the people who conduct the benefits assessments would that person seem to need more support then other people with SZA/SZ? How do you see people in group homes?
People who are choosing to get the help they need and a safe place for every day socialization.
Itâs hard to answer because Iâve been in 4 or 5 group homes but each one was pretty unique. In the group home I was in from 1990-95 I flourished. I worked the whole time I was there and was taking two classes at a time the local community college the entire time. I had just gotten clean from crack and I was taking the bus or walking to 5 or 6 AA, CA, or NA meetings a week.
I had a friend who was also schizophrenic and we went to meetings together but we also did stuff regularly like go to movies, go to the record shop, went to some AA functions, went out to eat and a bunch pf other stuff. It was a very productive time for me.
BUTâŚmy first group home in 1980 when I was 19 I didnât work go to school or have friends or a girlfriend. I pretty much didnât function per se as a normal 19-20 year old should but I wernt to the used book store frequently, I went downtown (it was a big city) often, caught the bus to my parents home and a bunch of miscellaneous other stuff.
Being in a group home definitely helps your case to be awarded benefits.
In my experience, group homes widely vary on the spectrum of functioning on the part of the residents. While I was working and going to school at the group home other people spent their time drinking and doing drugs or getting into trouble. Hardly anyone else worked and some people were too far out of it or acted too âdifferentlyâ to hold a job.
So in my experience, you can have both high functioning residents and so-called"low functioning" residents living at the same home.
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Iâm high functioning. Being in a group home felt like being in a cage. The residents were mostly dysfunctional. People spent most their days outside smoking or inside watching TV. Stealing was common, people spent a good portion of their time trying to get drugs or alcohol. There were always fights and disagreements among the members and staff. The food wasnât very good. Sometimes we ran out of toilet paper too. Oh, and there were bedbugs. One group home I was in one of the residents tried to burn down the house and came close to succeeding. Maybe I just had some bad experiences but I have no desire to go back to a group home.
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My son killed himself in a group home. I believe that he would still be alive, maybe, if he hadnât been in a group home. He hated it there.
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Speaking only from a UK perspective. I would imagine group homes would be aimed at those deemed incapable of living independently in the community be it short or long term. This would suggest they are aimed at the lowest functioning among us .
During my last stay in hospital before I met my wife my diagnosis had evolved to that of chronic schizophrenia. It was a toss up between being moved to a long stay ward or eventually being placed in a group home. The attitude was young and schizophrenic = fairly hopeless case,not much we can do for him. The truth is I had no idea about living independently as an adult and certainly hadnât been taught any skills towards that in hospital.
For most of our marriage ,until she developed dementia, my wife was the dominant,decision maker. I learnt some skills such as managing money but if I had been on my own Iâd have struggled.
Nearly 13 years on since my wife died Iâve lived independently but had not functioned that well without support. I was deemed as having âlimited ability to live independently in the communityâ However as I was deemed as not being a danger to myself or others ,and at least coping at a very basic level, I was by passed for support.
Then came the announcement that my block of flats was to be demolished . My stepdaughterâs first thought , who could see I was not coping well without support ,was this was an opportunity to get me near her . Nowadays I get support from her and from a care agency. My care plan states such care is to allow me to continue living independently. Without that support and if I had stayed in Essex things would have got so bad that sheltered/supported housing or a group home wouldâve been the likely outcome.
I think there is a hierarchy of functioning re living independently. 1)Can go it completely alone 2)Can cope reasonably well but just need a little support from time to time 3) Functioning at a very basic level. Really need support to maintain independence 4) Even with support would be too dysfunctional/ill to maintain independence.
I am deemed medium high/high medium functioning with the support I am getting ,but my care coordinator, come depot nurse , said that when I was living in Essex without support I was much lower functioning. It could be said I fit 3) and without such support Iâd revert to being quite low functioning and have difficulty maintaining independence.
I live in a town that used to have a large hospital/institution that catered for people with mentally handicaps (Learning Disabled) and associated mental health problems. All around Nottinghamshire in the 40s/50s/60s/70s people with obvious learning disabilities were sent there. It brought huge shame on families if they have a learning disabled child so they were encouraged to send them of to this hospital sometimes at very young age, also young delinquents without any LD were sent there. It had a school and child ward and you eventually progressed up to the adult ward on the site. It was on horrible place to live, no personal space, no personal belongings, 3 care staff to 40 patients, separated male and female wards. The more able looked after the less able and often abused them, psychically/sexual. Communal clothes given to the patients every morning. The patients become very institutionalised, behaviours such as rocking for self stimulation, obsessive with drink, meal and smoking times (and every patient smoked) resulting in ritualised behaviour.
This all changed in with the Thatcher government in the U.K and care in the community. When people tell me that care in the community is a bad thing I want to hit them. The poor souls who lived in that hospital are still institutionalised today.
That hospital closed in 1993 and all the patients who could live a semi-independent life where moved in support living/groups homes and things are 1000 times better. They have access to their own money with staff ratios 1 to 1 support with people they want to live with.
My sister lives in a group home. She has people check up on her which she needs. It works out but she wishes she had her own place
I live in a supported living/ group home and I wouldnât move out if they paid me. I like the people I live with, there is always staff around. Its so much cheaper to live here for gas/electric/water - shared between 3 others. We have all the satellite channels/200mg internet . I live in wealthy town on the Edinburgh - London line, 5 minutes to walk into town on a tree lined street. I wouldnât be able to live in this part of town if I was renting privately on benefits - well even if I was working! I donât have to pay council tax. 24/7 access to support. We have some lovely staff and I have a very dedicated manager who its no secret Iâm one of her favourites, its very easy to claim benefits, when I go for a assessment the first question they ask if âwhere do you liveâ and when I say supported living it basically sets the interview up. I love my group home
My precious son died by his own hand in a group home. He had hated it there. This was in the U.S.
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