On a Friday afternoon in late December, Geri Curtis received a disturbing phone call informing her she had only five days to find a new home for a developmentally disabled person.
As part of her job as public administrator for Livingston County, she had become legal guardian of a person with severe developmental disabilities two months earlier. The person, autistic and unable to speak, was living in a residential support facility in Jackson County.
Soon after she became the legal guardian, Curtis received notice from the facility that the person had to move within 30 days because of aggression.
Despite the efforts of the case manager at a regional office of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, nothing was available. Just before Christmas, Curtis got the call informing her that she had just five days left to find a new residential placement.
When the five days passed, the provider took the person to a hospital emergency room.
And that is where they have lived since.
“Our hospitals are not dumping grounds for these individuals but, the hospitals are full of our clients,” Curtis said.
At the beginning of March, there were 650 adults with developmental disabilities in what the Department of Mental Health calls “inappropriate placements.” There are 39 residing in hospitals, plus a handful in jails and homeless shelters, representing the most critical cases impacted by widespread staffing shortages among local non-for-profit organizations.
“This is a major problem,” Curtis...
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