Sorry, folks, for that little house-keepin'...

Ahhhhh, Janie was talkin' about how the safety net and how it has become almost non-existent and I was trying to add somehting related to that which I have finally gotten aroud to and that is a case study of a client I had who experienced quite a bout of "downward mobility"... And this was during the time when the net was alot stronger...

When I was in social work and would recieve a new case I would take the file home with me so that I could at least scan the various notes that other case workers, case managers, social workers, etc had made so that I'd have a certain understanding of a new client and what had been done and what worked for a while and what didn't and...

...as much as it pains me to say, most fell into very predictable categories... No, I'm not sayin' anything like "seen one, seen 'um all" but there were some definate patterns in terms of behavior, treatments, failures and successes, tho success had to be constantly redefined...

But then I got this young man, Adam (real name protected) who just din't quite fit the usual models... He had attended Randolph Macon College in Asland for 2 years and had come from an upper class family from the suburbs of Richomnd...

Adam had experienced some mild schizophrenic episodes in his teens, had been seen and treated in various private and public facilities and did very well until his 2nd year in college... Yeah, okay, this was the 70's but Adam wasn't a partier, didn't abuse drugs, didn't use alcohol at all and was deeply spiritual but...

...the episodes were no longer as easily controlled with medications and became dehibiliting... He dropped out of school and stayed at his parents house but during the bad times he would be in his room yelling at the walls... His parents tried to get him more private help but Adam wouldn't participate with any consistency and the bad times became longer in duration and, frankly, he must have scared his parents to death...

Finally, they confronted him with an altimatum to go in-patient or leave... He left...

Over the next 4 or 5 years Adam found hiumself in Central State Hospital, jails, flop houses, church sponsored homes, etc. and even occasionally back at his parents house but he just didn't stabilze...

I recieved his case in 1978 and picked him up at Central State Hospital in Petersburg, Va. along with another new client and he was very articulate and came accross as kinda shy and we talked about all kinds of stuff on the 45 minute trip back to Richomnd... He was every intelleget and well read which was something I rarely found in new clients from Central State... And he was close shaved and clean... Something else which stood out...

I took him directly to the eligility department and was able to get him a rent voucher while he waited to get his $56 monthly general relief check and Food Stamps... I then took him to one of my better flop houses on Grace Street (flop house row) and got into a room in the back of the house... I liked this particualr house because the lady who ran it also prepared meals for some of the folks...

Well, I went back two days later to see how Adam was doing and was amazed that he had done something I can't say I remember any of my clients doing... He had bartered with the landlady and had gotten some paint and had fixed his room up very nice... And he had created a little area for his religious studies and had a meditation rung with a small table with his Bible on it with candles and all...

(See, Janie, why I rmember this client so vividly???)

Adam kept all his appointments at Mental Health, stayed on his medications and seemed to be doing fine...

Fine???

Well, okay... Schizophrenic folks kinda stand out a little and most folks are slightly uncomfy around them even where they are doing, ahhhh, fine...

So, one day I got a call from Adam... He wanted to go to Philadelphia to see an old friend but was afraid to go for fear of being locked up or institutionalized... Hey, I can understand how he must have felt since he had spent 5 years in and out of jails and hospitals so I crafted a letter that he could present to any authority who stopped him on his trip telling them that he wasn't a daager to anyone, got some $$$ for the rround trip bus trip and set him on his way...

He was scheduled to be gone for 3 0r 4 days but...

...when I hadn't heard from him after a week was more than a little concerned so I went to the rooming house and his landladt said he hadn't returned...

...hmmmmmmm?

About a month later I got a call from a social worker in Trenton, N. J.... Adam had been living uder a bridge and had been badly beaten by another homeless person... Porbably a territorial thing... But Adam had the letter with him and so we arranged to get him back to Richmond...

I picked him up at the bus station... He wasn't doing well... He had scabs all over his face... I doubt if he even tried to defend himself because he was so timid but we had him back and his landlady was happy to see him and he got back on his meda and seemed to be doing okay...

Then I got to work one mornin' and there were half a dozen frnatic messages for me from his landlady...

...Adam had somehow gotten a gun and killed himself the night before...

Sniff...

Well, my frineds, Adam is one case study... And these were times when the safety net was stronger... Would an Adam take his life today??? Maybe... But that is not the issue here... What is the issue is that regardless of how one might think that being poor can never happen to them, it can... Here was a kid seemed to be on the fast track in the world yet found himself fallen pray to a nother homeless person under a bridge in Trenton, N.J...

And that was when the safety net was strong...

Sorry about the long post but...

And, Adam, I hope you are in a better place....

Peace

Bobert