does jenny have her own legal representation?
(i will read the links now but just saw this after a very long day.)
After her accident, Talbert and Morris took her in to help her recover from the accident. At that point, they sought a Medicaid waiver to help her with her care. The Medicaid waiver process is highly competitive and there are thousands on the waiting list.
Talbert and Morris said they were overwhelmed with paperwork, fighting for her waiver, and caring for her physical problems after the accident. Morris said Hatch's limited mental capacity had nothing to do with their feeling of being overwhelmed.
In May, they in essence surrendered Hatch to the CSB, thinking that the Medicaid waiver would help with her care. Hatch was declared homeless, which pushed her to the front of the waiver line, and she was able to receive her waiver.
The couple admit that they stepped on some toes at the CSB.
"They thought we were manipulating the process," Morris said.
Talbert said at that point, they didn't realize that a group home setting could be detrimental. He said they believed Hatch would be placed near where she works, in Newport News, and be allowed to have her same personal freedoms.
Instead, she was placed in a group home in Portsmouth, where it was extremely difficult for them to contact her.
"We didn't know or think that the group homes would limit her freedoms so much," Talbert said.
"We wish we could go back in time and never have applied for that waiver," Morris said,
Richard Hatch says:
February 11, 2013 at 3:38 pm
It is very interesting to see how many people “jump on the bandwagon” and sign petitions based on a one-sided story, filled with untruths and manipulation! Jenny is a wonderful daughter and well loved by her family and siblings. The decision to put her in a group home was a very hard and well thought out decision, based on what is best for Jenny, long term. An unselfish love. Jenny is very happy, it is only when she is being manipulated by these so-called “friends” that she gets upset. There is much more to the story then they are telling, and they often delete anyone from their Facebook that disagrees are tries to voice an opinion that is not theirs. We the family have taken the highroad and trust the legal system. Please be patient, after the final court dates this story will be published in many publications. Richard Hatch
Found more here
http://articles.dailypress.com/2012...-news-circuit-court-group-home-guardianship/2
And what's going on is BAD. Not on the part of Jenny's mother but what the couple did. They got involved in a highly complicated process and totally messed up the way it was working.
Let me give you an example. A friend of mine has a severely mentally retarded sister. And although Jenny's much more highly functioning than this girl, the catalyst for this seems to be the accident which required Jenny to get medical intervention. The idiots should have STAYED OUT OF IT because they took her medicaid voucher and tried to have it waived.
Basically this means the girl is getting pulled out of a protective system designed to create a long term health plan and being bunted to the side. This couple is wrong and they are screwing her up.
No wonder the mother is furious.
Renie, (my friend's sister) was taken care of by the mother. Well guess what? Suddenly the mother died. Renie is now 57 years old and lives with her brother who is also very challenged. The mother died last year and just this week is the first time APS is going in to try to sort out what is going to happen in the long term.
Although Jenny is fine now, down the line if she has any medical issues she's going to have a major problem because the couple WAIVED the medicaid voucher. It seems like this process sorted it out. But it's not about Jenny not getting her freedom. It's about the sad reality that if she has any medical issues in the future, she needs to have that voucher.
Bottom line to me, seems to be, that the mother knows she needs to get Jenny a specific care plan and the nice couple do gooders basically screwed up the process by offering to take her in.
Had they not done that, this would not be an issue. We're talking millions of dollars worth of care services for this woman's future. I sure hope they plan to take care of her forever.
The reason the mother probably "kicked her out" is that she would be declared homeless and then pushed to the front of the line.
Here's a post that is from Richard Hatch
Richard Hatch says:
February 11, 2013 at 3:38 pm
It is very interesting to see how many people jump on the bandwagon and sign petitions based on a one-sided story, filled with untruths and manipulation! Jenny is a wonderful daughter and well loved by her family and siblings. The decision to put her in a group home was a very hard and well thought out decision, based on what is best for Jenny, long term. An unselfish love. Jenny is very happy, it is only when she is being manipulated by these so-called friends that she gets upset. There is much more to the story then they are telling, and they often delete anyone from their Facebook that disagrees are tries to voice an opinion that is not theirs. We the family have taken the highroad and trust the legal system. Please be patient, after the final court dates this story will be published in many publications. Richard Hatch
Wow that is awful. Down's syndrome patient have increased risk of cancer, early onset Alzheimer's, vision problems, heart problems, etc. she needs health insurance. How did this couple get to know her to take her in anyway?
I did not jump to ANY conclusions. I did not see an alarming headline and assume anything. I spent hours researching this.
I waited several months to post this, because I was doing everything in my power to get the whole story. :banghead:
The mother runs away if anyone tries to interview her! She won't GIVE her side of the story. So what are we to do?
If this was MY child and I thought this couple was manipulating her or something, I would want everyone to know that!
If the mother "kicking her out" was done to get the waiver, then why didn't she surrender her just like this couple did?
If that was the goal, why didn't Jenny's mother simply contact the couple to explain the situation to them?
Yes, Jenny was excited in her interview. This reporter has spent so much time with her, he's like another family member!
Jenny could BE my daughter in 18 years, this is enormously personal to me.
If the family wants their side of the story heard then they need to give their side of the story. :twocents:
Jenny worked for them before her mother kicked her out of the house.
When she started hanging around because she didn't want to go to the friend's house she was staying at, they took her in.
If Jenny had heart problems that would already be diagnosed. 50% of babies with DS are BORN with a heart defect.
Adults with Down syndrome get cancer LESS than other adults.
Cancers are actually considered "rare" in people with DS.
This is one of the reasons all the abortions of babies with DS are so infuriating.
Scientists are looking for a CURE to cancer in people with DS!
They get it so rarely scientists believe something on the extra chromosome has cancer fighting qualities.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/413552/how-down-syndrome-stops-cancer/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090520140359.htm
People with DS are more likely to get childhood leukemia and they are also much more likely to beat it.
Hematologic malignancies such as leukemia are more common in children with DS.[36] In particular, acute lymphoblastic leukemiais at least 10 times more common in DS and the megakaryoblastic form of acute myelogenous leukemia is at least 50 times more common in DS. Transient leukemia is a form of leukemia that is rare in individuals without DS but affects up to 20 percent of newborns with DS.[37]
The family really should have spoken out sooner. IMO; Them keeping quiet did not help this any.
People who don't know how the system works always think it is logical and predictable. Parents and caregivers or case managers who know how the system works don't have the time or capability to explain to those who don't know. You often have to be sneaky or unethical to get what you need.If the mother "kicking her out" was done to get the waiver, then why didn't she surrender her just like this couple did?
If that was the goal, why didn't Jenny's mother simply contact the couple to explain the situation to them?
Earlier this year, Hatch was living semi-independently, including holding down a part-time job, maintaining her own bank account and doing other daily activities by herself or with minimal assistance, her friends said.
Chewy (and possibly others, I'm freaking exhausted) -
I am extremely active in the Down syndrome community. I have seen the best and the worst.
I know how the system works. I have had to "cheat" the system just like you talk about.
I have showed up at the ER and refused to leave until we saw a specialist. My child couldn't wait another 8 months.
My kids are home schooled, because the school system here sucks.
I have fought for people to receive waivers and done fundraisers when medical equipment (like a ventilator) was denied.
I know all the statistics. I know all the medical issues. I have a 10 year old daughter with DS so I've been doing this a while.
She has AAI, is at risk for Leukemia because her WBC is weird, had a heart defect, also has Alopecia. I know all that.
My daughter also gets extremely excited just like Jenny to see people she knows. It doesn't make what she says "a joke."
She can also cook, clean, read, write, add, subtract, tell time, not to mention the Science and History she knows.
Jim and Kelly were able to "surrender" her to the CSB - thereby "manipulating" the process (just like you talk about.)
I am obviously too stupid to see why her mother couldn't have done that, ensuring Jenny wouldn't be on the street.
I also know that Jenny, as a person with Down syndrome... is much more likely to be abused.
I was once told at a seminar that 3 out 4 girls with DS will be abused. Kicking her out of her house is absurd.
I think the timeline might be a bit confused here as well, so let me clarify.
Jenny started working for Jim and Kelly in April 2008.
In January 2012 Jenny was kicked out of her house.
There is no indication of any major medical issues at this point.
No apparent reason her mother would kick her out to have her declared homeless to get the waiver.
In March 2012 Jenny was hit by a car riding her bicycle.
Jenny was kicked out of her house BEFORE she was hit by the car. BEFORE she had all the medical needs.
What is a medicaid waiver?
Like I said, there are plenty of vicious mothers out there, so if it comes to be that the mother is indeed this evil witch then GO JENNY.
This is my interpretation of what is going on and I could be wrong, but I think many people don't understand what is happening here and have made a huge problem for this young woman they don't realize.
Her parents may have done this because they can't afford to pay for all she needs.
Richard Hatch says:
February 11, 2013 at 3:38 pm
It is very interesting to see how many people jump on the bandwagon and sign petitions based on a one-sided story, filled with untruths and manipulation! Jenny is a wonderful daughter and well loved by her family and siblings. The decision to put her in a group home was a very hard and well thought out decision, based on what is best for Jenny, long term. An unselfish love. Jenny is very happy, it is only when she is being manipulated by these so-called friends that she gets upset. There is much more to the story then they are telling, and they often delete anyone from their Facebook that disagrees are tries to voice an opinion that is not theirs. We the family have taken the highroad and trust the legal system. Please be patient, after the final court dates this story will be published in many publications. Richard Hatch
The fact that they didn't speak out sooner is an indication to me that they don't care about public scrutiny but care about the best long term care for their daughter.
They couldn't speak out sooner because of the way the system is set up. This is not the first time this has happened.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/eva-cameron-abandoned-dev_n_1663334.html
In the above story, the mother abandoned her daughter in Tennessee because they have the best state help for homeless people with disabilities.
This story should not be an indictment on the parents. It should be an indictment on the systems in place to deal with adults with disabilities.
I just found this interesting story trying to look for another Jane Doe
Mom who Abandoned Developmentally Disabled Daughter In Tennessee Bar, Faces No Charges
lso when I said the interview with Jenny was a joke, I didn't mean Jenny was a joke, I meant they said they were going to interview her and she just said yes and no to questions she has answered a million times. Her answers were very childlike.
The way it was presented was that she was a mature and very capable young woman who could make decisions like this. That is NOT what it looked like in the interview to me. It looked like she is being manipulated to say "good sound bites"
Why in the world would the courts and the medical system side with her parents if the situation is the way it's being presented in the media?