What Would You Do?

If you found out that a close relative or friend:

• Has a condition that requires daily living assistance
• His/her caretaker from the agency provided took him/her in their home after a long stay in the hospital
• The "caretaker" was paid over $1100.00 a month to provide the care, in the caretaker's home for your relative or friend
• Your relative or friend does have "family", but doesn't want to depend on them, so....
• At the caretaker's suggestion, your relative or friend gives the caretaker Power of Attorney over all your decisions and also grants the caretaker as a Trustee over an inheritance for your relative or friend's grandchild
• The caretaker also insisted that their names be put on your relative or friend's bank account
  
• Your relative or friend has been moved into the caretaker's home, given a 10x8 room to live in and has never been asked out of the home, taken anywhere in 4 1/2 months
• The caretaker is also taking an extra $1200.00 a month from your relative or friend for "rent" or other expenses and had been insisting they (caretakers) needed even more money
  
• The caretaker is also making your relative or friend pay for their own requests for food items or toilet paper
• Your relative or friend manages to finally extract (with help) from the situation and his/her belongings (clothing, personal items, furniture) is still at the caretakers home
• Every time arrangements are made to move the personal items of your relative or friend, the caretakers are refusing to cooperate, using excuses that they won't "be there" or have other plans over a period of 2 full weeks

This is happening to a very good friend of mine. Who has family and was taken advantage of by someone that worked on her for almost 9 years. When my friend was living on her own and needed "Home Health Care", provided by a county/state run agency, one of the caretakers did in fact manipulate her insidiously, gaining her trust and even manipulated my friend into feeling sorry enough for her that she loaned the caretaker money (which was paid back). The ethics involved are sickening.

1. When one is working as a professional, taking care of a client- especially when it involves health care- borrowing money from the person that is dependent upon these services should never, ever occur.
2. The "caretakers" (a CNA and her husband) have a long record of court documents that show they've been sued for money, ie; they don't pay their bills.
3. The caretakers were obviously (and I say this with conviction) meddling in my friend's family relationships- isolating her and making her son feel unwelcome in their home.
4. Her phone conversations were being listened to and whenever Hospice visited, the caretaker would not give her any privacy so she could tell them what was occurring.
5. She was being left alone for periods, when in fact, with her condition, she should have someone there with her or close by in case she is in need of medical care.
6. The caretakers are basically holding her personal belongings hostage, refusing to cooperate when her family makes arrangements to move her things from her home.
7. The caretaker's attorney that set up the Powers of Attorney and the Trust is also the County Attorney (this idiot should be voted out next election, the problem is the size of the community- I think there are 2 attorneys left practicing in the county seat)
   

I did manage to get my friend out of the home for a day, taking her to a different attorney, changing the Powers of Attorney and the Trust, getting their names OFF of all the legal documents and her son and niece on them (so the caretakers are SOL). She's in the hospital, doing MUCH better (extracting her from that revolting, stressful situation did wonders for her physical state, not to mention her emotional state) in the long term care unit.

So, for now, she's safe- getting what she needs and we got her a cell phone so she would have a bit more freedom and not limited to local calls on the hospital phones.

We seem to have a system that enables vultures like her former caretakers to operate- the wheels of justice turn slowly, but the evidence is starting to surface, more and more- yet the caretakers are just too stupid to realize that their behaviors and current actions are doing nothing but making themselves look really bad at this point.

Stay tuned..........