Jared is a man whose burned a lot of bridges, and when I say a lot of bridges, I mean it. Jared is not welcome, ever, at any of the other shelters in town, and has been permanently restricted from many of the hotels, medical clinics and rooming houses along the strip. There are not a lot of places left where Jared is able to go. He’s been given a lot of chances, but this physically disabled man has done A LOT of horrible things in his life, and he’s not even all that old. I mean, it takes soooo much to get yourself a lifetime ban from our services, and he did it.
Of course, it is always possible to appeal your ban, and so with the help of a hospital social worker, he did just that. See the thing is, when Jared isn’t drinking, or sniffing, or smoking crack or taking whatever the substance of the day is, he’s a nice guy! However, he’s one of the very few clients I am actually afraid of, very afraid of. See the thing is, staff have seen Jared sexually assault another client...but, since she didn’t press charges...
So, Jared’s back in. He uses our services just like any other client and gets the same punishments for drinking/using in the shelter as every other client, 24 hrs out. What happens when Jared sexually assaults another client, this time in the shelter, in front of witnesses and under a camera? What happens when the police say there’s not enough evidence despite the camera? There’s no charges, what do we do with Jared then?
Personally, I want to see Jared out. Out. Out. Out. Out. Out. But, as I said before, I’m scared of him, and I like to defend the little guy. Management doesn’t agree with me. Management wants him to sober up. See, the night of the assault, Jared spent the night on the street in frigid temperatures. He begged ambulances to take him to the hospital, he tried to assault police so that he could get thrown in jail. But no one would do anything for him. By morning, Jared was a freezing cold, sober, sad person who begged my coworker to let him back in, just to warm up... and how could we not? And then, then he said he didn’t remember a thing. He claimed to have to memory at all of anything until sometime in the middle of the night when we wouldn’t let him in (looking at this, even my language shows my bias).
So, what do you do in a situation like this? Because it is situational... if it was summer, or if he wasn’t disabled, or if he wasn’t kicked out of everywhere else, or if he acknowledged wrong doing, or if there was better evidence, or if there were charges, or if, or if, or if...
Living on the streets is not easy, it’s really not...
2 comments:
i wish i could be non-biased when responding to this. i can't. i was basically married to him and nearly lost my life and my son's life trying to do the right thing. trying to be an advocate for the little person is one thing but what about self-determination? i'm sure he has been told and shone what the consequences of his actions are, yet he continues on with those actions. there comes a point when you can do no more. either he gets help to stay sober and stays sober or he gets no relief. i know that is a cynical thing to say but i had to realize the hard way that some just can't get sober so you have to protect yourself/agency.
Sounds like an accident waiting to happen. What about a multi-agency meeting where all providers could get together to formulate a management plan for good ole Jared. Also, if the service is available, some Assertive Community Treatment would be a good program for someone like Jared, and/or having an intensive case manager who providers can call to follow up with Jared when he is in trouble.
These are systems solutions not case advocacy. Would your program director help set up a multi-agency management conference?
All the best,
David Markham
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