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I find myself in an unknown situation and need a mentor. My first client 3 years ago was an elderly couple needing someone to handle the bills after the wife suffered a stroke. They’ve since exhausted all excess funds and live off their fixed income. I’ve learned almost every county resource to keep them afloat. Talking about a learning curve! They have little to no outside support. In addition, they have refused Medicaid support due to some assets held.
Recent developments now include multiple hospital visits and the husband wants me more involved than I planned to be. I want to set some boundaries and see all of my options including more resources and am looking for a mentor to guide me through this.
Someone in PA would be ideal but not necessary. Does anyone have experience in a situation like this who could help? I appreciate it.
Julianne Miller
Life Money Management LLCI have not had this type of situation myself (yet), but two thoughts come to mind. First, in speaking with some elder law attorneys, they often have people come to them in crisis situations and sometimes they have options that can allow use of Medicaid and still have some assets. Obviously, the 5-year lookback reduces the options considerably, but having a conversation with an elder law attorney might open some additional options for them.
Second, balancing our desire to help people (which is often why we went into this profession) with our limitations of scope of services (boundaries) is always in conflict. In general, the earlier we can define those boundaries, then there is less need to have to define them during situations. There are a number of resources available related to this topic.
Hello Julianne,
First of all, I commend you for the incredible work you have done with this couple for the past 3 years. However, if they have exhausted their funds except for their fixed income and are now refusing Medicaid, it appears that they require a different type of assistance rather than DMM. I think the “unknown situation” you’re experiencing is because your clients’ needs extend beyond what you can provide as a DMM. I’m happy to speak with you more about this offline, but the situation you describe seems to be outside the scope of what you can reasonably provide. In Dane county where I live, they have a Caregiver grant for support services (including DMM) so when a client is referred by a social worker or case manager. I can assist them with setting up a financial system, and then someone else (family friend, church member, volunteer) takes on the responsibility. Let me know if you’d like to discuss this situation further.
Barbara Boustead
608-515-4083
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