In 1999, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C. that, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with mental disabilities have a right to live within their community as opposed to an institution, if professionals have determined that the patient’s ability to adapt and live in…
GROWING NEED More ten million elderly Americans rely exclusively on their Social Security pension as their sole means of support. Approximately 90 percent of senior citizens receive some sort of income from Social Security and approximately half of those relied on Social Security for at least half of their monthly…
SPECIAL NEEDS LAWS HELP PROTECT THOSE WHO PROTECT US For those of us who come from families with many military members, we know the sacrifices and hard work that service members incur for their principles and belief that there are certain obligations in life that precede all else. Unfortunately, until…
LEADING COMPLAINT ABOUT NURSING HOME IS EVICTIONS On February 25, 2016 National Public Radio (NPR) ran a story about what is looking to become like a national epidemic: nursing home evictions. According to statistics between 8,000 and 9,000 nursing home residents complain each year about nursing home evictions. The problem…
DISTANCE AND PROFESSIONALISM The New York Times ran an article on December 23, 2015 discussing the distance that the average American lives from their mother. As revealed in longitudinal study published in 2010, half of Americans live 18 miles or less from their their mother. As shown in the graph…
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING OFFICE INVESTIGATION On September 30, 2015 the Government Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report following a 15 month investigation regarding advances to pensioners, secured by monies that the pensioner would receive in their pension. The same day the Senate Committee on Aging held hearings on this exact issue…
LAWS THROUGHOUT THE STATES More than half the states have filial support laws on their books. Most states that still have filial support laws as part of its statutory code rarely enforce them. The last time that Georgia successfully enforced its filial support law was 1936. Filial support laws are…