Moving Into a Group Home, Episode 2

Two weeks ago, one of our adult clients, Jane, made a hastily arranged move into a group home. Jane and her mother had been experiencing more than their typical problems and Jane's mom finally realized she couldn't do this anymore. At the same time, the staff in our program had noticed a deterioration in Jane's behavior, reminiscent of a previous time when her medication dosages were part of the problem. Jane was supposed to be responsible for taking her daily medication, but occasionally would either refuse or forget. When this same set of behaviors occurred previously, Jane had to be hospitalized to achieve stability with her meds. Now that she has been placed in a group home, her medication is being monitored closely. As a result,  Jane is back to her normal quirky self and seemingly, very happy. And she announces each day that she loves her group home. Hopefully, its not just the honeymoon period!

I'm old enough to remember the days of the 'snake pit' institutions that housed people with developmental disabilities and mental illness, often all lumped into the same categories and therefore sharing the same space, however inappropriate and inadequate. I remember visiting a state hospital while still in college in the early seventies and being horrified by what I saw. So, I certainly understand the reluctance of some of our parents who also remember those miserable days and are determined never to place their beloved child in such a situation.  Fortunately, I believe things have changed for the better. People are living more within communities and being given the opportunity to participate more in the activities that their families and friends do.

So, what I've noted about the students/clients who have been placed in group homes over the last 10 years is a positive shift. Those students who have been placed have done surprisingly well. One of our students was so rigid that even going into a different classroom was a major undertaking on the part of the staff to prepare him. So, when his relatively young father died, his family decided they had to place him. I could hardly imagine it happening without hearing about it on the 5 o'clock news. But to my surprise, it went incredibly smoothly. And that has been the story in general with group home placements of late. Because the group home staff have time to focus on the clients, the clients are often able to do many more things than they were able to as part of a family. By this I mean that any family life is ever changing where the brother's or sister's piano lessons, soccer practice, tutoring, mom or dad's late meeting are often emblematic of the constant change. A fairly predictable daily schedule is the norm for the group home. And frequently, the group homes are able to take trips to places like Disneyland, snow trips, and always Las Vegas, though that one escapes me.

The other notable fact is that the clients tend to lose weight, but in a good way. Their food intake is monitored carefully, they never seem to feel deprived, and their level of exercise and physical activity increases. They can't sneak into the pantry when mom's on the phone or distracted in some other way.

Once a child is placed in the group home, parents of course continue to be very much a part of their lives and spend time with their child - usually as much as they want. Many of our students go home for weekends or join their parent for dinner several times a week. We have a parent who comes once a week to join her son for lunch here at school and often on weekends, the family has him at home. While initially, he didn't understand why his mom was leaving, he has come to accept the routine and the two of them have some lovely moments together.

No question, making a decision to place a child is monumental for any family and I'm certainly not advocating group home placements over home. But it is with some relief that I can report my observations that most group homes are run very well and the people running them seem to genuinely care for the clients. So, when that day comes, parents can have a sense that a placement is not abandonment - it is an inevitable passage and better to be a part of the decision and know the choices than to have to make a decision too quickly.