Mentally ill brother now homeless - any advice?

kezzygirl

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I hope you are never in that situation, because you can make it your mission, my mission and everyone else supporting the OP in this thread's mission, but until the addict makes it THEIR mission to come off the drugs, nothing's going to really change.

there is help, but the person has to be willing and able to accept it. the combination of illegal drugs and mental health issues (dual diagnosis) seriously reduces the facilities which can offer help, and the person often lacks insight into their mental health and drug use.

Apart from the aftercare situation, it sounds as if the actions taken have been reasonable: the OP's brother may not have been in the right kind of accommodation, but all tenants have the right to 'quiet enjoyment'. If one tenant makes that impossible for the others, what is the landlord to do?

I'm sure you know what you're talking about but I'm not completely convinced that the local authority will accept that he is unintentionally homeless. It is a very tight definition, and anti-social behaviour may fall outside it, as do rent arrears in some circumstances.

If any of you are interested, there is a very similar (and equally distressing) situation described on change.org - search for 'remove my mentally ill brother from the streets' if you are interested.

finally...some sense!

Person_one

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Have you ever had to deal with such a situation? It's not as simple as offering a bed for the night. Unless you've ever been in that situation you cannot possibly comprehend.

No, thankfully I have not been i this situation. I can imagine the terror the OP must be feeling if he believes that his brother will be dead in a few days though. I can understand the OP not wanting to take his brother in as he is worried that means that the NHS/social services will not then take any responsibility. However people can and do die on the streets waiting for help.

What's your advice? I'm sure you haven't posted on this serious thread just to criticise me...

theoretica

Do the various charities you have contacted think that the council is deficient in the care they have provided after your brother was sectioned? If so could your family afford a specialist lawyer to remind social services of their duty?

richdeniro

theoretica wrote: »

Do the various charities you have contacted think that the council is deficient in the care they have provided after your brother was sectioned? If so could your family afford a specialist lawyer to remind social services of their duty?

That will most likely be my next step, I have followed the councils complaints procedure and used lots of legal wordings from the Mind and other websites plus massive thanks to those who have replied with advice that I have taken and put into the letter.

Here's what I sent - obviously removed certain personal details and changed his name:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to complain on behalf of my brother, who is a vulnerable adult and has been failed by Croydon Council and Social Services who have made him homeless in the middle of winter. I believe that I am able to put forward this complaint as a close relative of John as he has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and so is unable to make the complaint himself due to a lack of capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

John became homeless on 2nd February 2017 and as I write this complaint he is currently sleeping rough for the 5th consecutive night somewhere in Croydon. The council and social services have fobbed-off my parents attempts to have the council re-home him and it seems completely washed their hands of him. We have not had any help from a social worker, care coordinator or CPN and when we try to contact anyone we just appear to go around in circles. We have tried charities such as Shelter and Crisis in order just to get a roof and shelter over his head but they are massively stretched and our efforts have been fruitless.

My brother has been sectioned twice previously due to his mental illness and I would have thought he should be entitled to 117 aftercare as the mental health act states quite clearly that aftercare services are intended to:

• meet a need that arises from or relates to your mental health problem, and
• reduce the risk of your mental condition getting worse, and you having to go back to hospital

Having read the case of Moran v Manchester City Council (2009) I also believe he is 'unintentionally homeless' and therefore under Section 193(2) of the Housing Act 1996, Local Authorities have a duty to provide housing where the applicant is:

• Unintentionally homeless
• Eligible for assistance

Since being made homeless John's physical and mental state has deteriorated to such a extent that I believe it is only a matter of time before he self-destructs. It is now his 5th night on the street and the situation is becoming increasingly desperate:

• He looks dishevelled and is not eating properly - his mental illness means he doesn't have the capacity to think normally and operate within normal timeframes so misses volunteer events such as Croydon Nightwatch handing out food and drink in Queens Gardens
• He has no money and no means of transport because he no longer has his bank card or freedom pass - I believe that he has probably been robbed of these
• This week the weather is forecast to be extremely cold and wet - his sleeping bag is also missing so we are extremely worried that he will end up with hyperthermia or worse
• He has been talking about killing himself and committing suicide

I also have to make the point that John's mental illness is likely to result in him becoming violent and dangerous - he was previously sectioned due to attempted attacks on my parents and if it were not for the police restraining him it could have ended up many times worse. Without having an address I do not know how he will be expected to attend his antipsychotic depot injections, the only way we have been able to get him to attend the clinic in the past was by visiting his previous homes and forcing him to go - how can we do that if we do not know where he is and cannot find him?

I have no doubt and I cannot emphasise this enough that he will be a threat to himself and the public if he is not housed as there will be no means to get him to take his medication and his mental state will worsen significantly just from being homeless and unable to sleep properly. I believe that if he does not kill himself that there is a real possibility that he will act as Matthew Daley, Daniel Dighton or Zakaria Bulhan have done in recent years which would be a tragedy.

My solution is for alternative accommodation to be found for John as soon as possible. I would also like this complaint to be expedited as quickly as possibly due to the current cold weather and because John will deteriorate even further particularly if he is no longer medicated.

I will send a hard copy of this letter by recorded delivery. If I do not receive a satisfactory response I will have to take legal advice and am prepared to go to all lengths possible including the Local Government Ombudsman and Judicial Review if needs be. I have also notified the local MP of the situation and he is copied into this email.

Kind regards,

System

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I'm afaid i don;t have advice but i hope the situation is reslved quickly, for you and your brother.

Elsewhere

I think it is time that the government compromised on their so-called "care in the community" and made provision in sympathetic, modern, properly run asylums for those who truly cannot cope. The situation at present is callous and cruel to the ill person and their families and expensive and stressful to services like the police and council departments who should not have to cope with what is a medical problem.

preciousillusions

As someone who suffers from mental illness this really does make me so sad. It's so unfair and should not be happening. It must be so frightening to be inside your brothers mind right now. Again, I am so sorry for everything you and your family, and him, are going through. You are in my thoughts.

[Deleted User]

Would it be a temporary but practical solution to get him out the weather by simply putting him in an outbuilding ie garage / shed or similar. He woudl have shelter from the wind and rain and you could put a warm bed in there and provide hot meals.

I am not saying this is a solution by any means but it would get him off the streets and safe from others until something is sorted.

-taff

Proxima_Centauri wrote: »

What do you get out of trolling on a thread where somebody is desperately trying to get help?

Suggest you read the thread through again, person_one is trolling no-one.

Proxima_Centauri

I believe they are baiting to get a reaction, but I'll remove my post as I don't want to side-track the thread.