Sheltered/Social Housing suitable for mental health disability

housingquery

Hi,

I really hope that I can get some advice on this forum for an issue that has been ongoing in my family for many years, I had considered posting unregistered in the personal issues forum as this is a sensitive issue both for myself and my family but I am hoping that those who frequent this forum would have the necessary background and or experience to point me in the right direction. Mods, please feel free to move this to a more appropriate forum if you think it would suit.

I have a brother who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He is in his early 30's and has been on medication for this for many years. He has always lived at home with my parents and is in receipt of disability benefit from the state. In general, the medication keeps him on an even keel and he is able to function well on a day to day basis, he has friends that he socialises with and he is able to make his way out and about with little difficulty. However, one of the issues that he does have is that he has little if any responsibility when it comes to managing his money. Much of the money that is paid into his account on a Wednesday is gone by Saturday/Sunday as he enjoys going out and likes a drink or two. He does not pay any rent at home to my parents and in general they do not demand it from him. However, in recent times he has become more of a burden on my parents who are elderly and who are frustrated with his inability and lack of desire to go about his day in a productive manner rather than drinking or hanging around either at home or with friends.

In years past, my parents tried to get him into some accommodation so that he could look after himself but it was never long lasting and the accommodation tended to be pretty dingy eg. Studio flats in rough areas of town. What he really needs, in my view, is some kind of sheltered accommodation where he would be living in an apartment or group housing area where there would be some shared facilities and/or security. The problem is that I really do not know where such accommodation might be, if it exists at all and if it does, how much it would cost. Obviously with rental housing being at such a premium these days and with rising rent costs, it remains to be seen whether he would be priced out of the rental market even with rent supplement. Also, I don’t know what kind of social housing is available or how it is prioritised, how to get on housing lists etc.

I would really appreciate any feedback from anyone who has had any experience in this area…

Thanks.

CollyFlower

Try these. http://www.hail.ie/

newacc2015

Phone the HSE. They closed the Asylums and have brought/had a ton of houses around Dublin, that were suitable to house these patients instead of keeping them in the hospitals. There is one around the corner from me(although its for OAPs). They have constant nurse visits and the house is get renovating now, so they must like to keep them to a certain standard.

I imagine the HSE might have a place for him in one of their houses. Ask maybe one of his doctors for who to contact?

liquoriceall

You need to get in contact with the day hospital he attends and speak to his allocated social worker. There most likely will need to be a meeting involving your brother, parents, psychiatrist, nurse and the social worker. I recommend going down this route now as it could be a very long time before a place becomes available