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Mentally Ill Have Hard Time Finding Housing: The Number of People With Mental Illness Far Outstrips the Supply of Safe, Affordable, Suitable Living Arrangements.

Posted on: Saturday, 31 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By Ron Sylvester, The Wichita Eagle, Kan., The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Dec. 31--Years before he learned of the horrific sexual abuse his daughter suffered at the Kaufman House, the man from Indiana was thrilled to find the group home for the mentally ill in Kansas.

"In those days, it was quite difficult to find a place for her to live," the man said recently of his decision to move his daughter, who suffers from schizophrenia, to Newton in 1986. "We found more places in Canada than in the United States."

For people seeking options, little has changed.

"There's still a large gap in finding appropriate housing for the mentally ill," said Rocky Nichols, director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.

For 20 years, the Kaufman House looked to be a godsend for some families seeking living arrangements for loved ones with severe mental illness. Only a few years ago did federal agents discover stacks of videotapes, showing the residents -- including the Indiana man's daughter -- performing disturbing sexual acts. He testified at the trial of Arlan and Linda Kaufman this fall, recalling how happy he'd once been to find the home run by a licensed social worker and registered nurse.

At least, he said, his daughter wouldn't have to sleep under a bridge.

Jason Weir, 28, of Wichita, didn't live at the Kaufman House, but knows about sleeping under bridges.

Weir suffers from an illness that hinders him in holding a steady job and, for four of the past five years, from keeping a stable home. He likes to think that when he sees what no one else does, maybe they're visions from God: a gift to help cope with the struggles he sees daily.

"When you're on the streets, it feels hopeless," Weir said. "It makes you feel, 'What's the point of living? I don't have a roof over my head or food in my belly."

With a mental illness, Weir said, "It's 10 times worse. You're already prone to those feelings to begin with, then you're homeless and it just adds on top."

Too much, too little

Like Weir, some 1,200 people look for help each year from Comcare of Sedgwick County, which provides mental health services regardless of ability to pay. More than 200 are homeless.

But if Comcare officials add up their options for helping find homes -- through apartments, rental vouchers and transitional housing programs -- they can, at most, find help for around 80 people. Those spots, of course, fill quickly.

"For a person who isn't able to work, because of their mental illness, they end up on a fixed income that makes housing very much a challenge," said Luella Sanders, manager of the Center City homeless program for Comcare.

Education or job training isn't necessarily the issue. One man with schizophrenia living under abuse at the Kaufman House had been a high school valedictorian and earned a 4.0 grade-point average at Kansas State University.

Even the lowest-priced rental units in the Wichita area exhaust as much as 75 percent of the benefits ofa person on a fixed income. A monthly disability check from Supplemental Security Income is $579. The fair-market rent for a one-room efficiency in Sedgwick, Harvey and Butler Counties is $439.

There remain few options between full-time care of institutions and full independent living. Mostly, the mentally ill depend on relatives, who can become overburdened.

The Kaufmans exploited that gap at their group homes for decades. If residents complained, or threatened to report them to state protective services, the Kaufmans threatened to kick them out.

The Kaufmans, convicted last month and awaiting sentencing in January, are an extreme example of how mentally ill people can beexploited.

"It is a challenge to find not just housing but safe, affordable, suitable housing," said Mike Hammond, executive director for the Association of Community Mental Health of Kansas. "Those are three key words: safe, affordable, suitable. You can find housing, but it's often not going to meet those three criteria."

Searching for answers

Weir remembered thinking he'd won the lottery just a few years ago when he got a voucher from the federal Section 8 rental assistance program. Then he lost his job and with it his ability to pay even the small amount of rent for a Section 8 home.

Now, that's not even an option. The Section 8 rolls in Wichita closed in fall 2002.

"For all intents and purposes, they've closed it, they've purged it," Sanders said.

Comcare constantly looks for landlords who will work with it to provide safe living within a budget. It has some. It needs more.

There are other answers, but they would require changes in government policies.

One would give the most severely mentally ill patients the same rights that others with disabilities receive under programs such asMedicaid. People with developmental disabilities, for example, qualify for income waivers that give them access to additional services.

"You will find more residential options for people with developmental disabilities because there's a funding source to offset the cost. Right now for people with mental illness, there is no residential funding stream," said Karen McNally, who directs Comcare's community support services.

That topic and others will be studied during six summits statewide next year, Hammond said. They are part of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, which aims to close some of the gaps in treating the mentally ill.

Despite those gaps, Kansas is seen as a leader in providing services for the mentally ill.

"We get calls all the time from other states asking about our programs and how we do what we do," Hammond said.

Weir said Comcare's Center City literally saved his life.

The program sends field workers onto the streets to find people like Weir and pair them with case workers, therapists and access to medication. The illnesses aren't curable but can be stabilized, managed and controlled with proper care.

Weir also found friends and support and hopes of a job through Project Independence, a nonprofit "consumer-run organization" operated by the mentally ill for the mentally ill.

The story of his recovery isn't unusual.

Even many of the former residents of the Kaufman House are now successfully living on their own and receiving outpatient care for their illnesses.

One woman who lived at the Kaufman home told The Eagle that she is dealing with her severe depression enough to remarry and home-school her teenage son.

"A person can recover their lives," Center City's Sanders said. "They can live full, healthy lives in the community and independently."

The future

Despite all the help, Weir still wonders whether he'll again find himself under a bridge.

He is one year into a two-year program that provides transitional housing. But he's afraid that because of his mental illness, and the visions he sees, he won't be able to find a stable job.

He lost his government assistance during his four years of homelessness and is trying to get back on the assistance rolls.

"What we've found is the biggest challenge is not helping people get housing, it's helping people stay in that housing," Sanders said.

Weir is afraid time will run out.

"I've got one more year in this program," Weir said. "I don't know what I'll do after that."

Now you know

NEED HELP?

For access to information about mental health and housing

-- In Sedgwick County: Call Comcare first appointment line: (316) 660-7540

-- Elsewhere in Kansas:The Association of Community Health Care Centers in Kansas can direct you to services in your area. Call (785) 234-4773

-- Civil rights issues:Those needing legal help, including in areas of abuse, neglect or integrating into a community, may call the Disability Rights Center of Kansas toll-free at (877) 776-1541.

BY THE NUMBERS

-- $579: Monthly disability check from Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

-- $439: Fair market rent for a one-room efficiency apartment in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties.

-- 75: Percent of monthly SSI income needed to pay that rent.

-- 30: Recommended percent of income that should go for housing.

-- $8.32: Hourly wage needed to afford an efficiency apartment in Kansas at 30 percent of income.

-- $5.15: Minimum wage.

-- 65: Hours per week needed, at minimum wage, to afford an efficiency apartment.

-- $40,000: Annual cost to taxpayers for each homeless person who needs but does not receive mental health services. This cost, estimated by the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Service, includes 911 calls, emergency room care and jail.

-- $6,500: Annual cost for each homeless person receiving community mental health services through county providers such as Comcare.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com [mailto:rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com].

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

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