My 55 year old Dev. Dis./sev. Handicap cousin is living in gov. run group home in a neighboring state of C. TN . She is being stolen from by her caregivers. I discovered this 6 months ago in a visit when I sat down with the office at her center. I had never done that before as I am not her POA or Conservator, she is her own POA & Conservator. She also has the Mind of a 12 year old. I am her 90 year old mom’s POA. I care about my cousin very much. I have been trying to help watch over her and send her money and gifts from afar for as long as she has been in her gov. run home. But what I did not know was that the money, and most gifts never were getting to her. She went in almost 10 years ago when her own mom had to go in a nursing home. My father was alive then, and handled helping my cousin get into the group home, along with the help of her local church. But my father didn’t know my cousin needed a family member to look over her shoulder and be her conservator & POA, so my cousin became her own. We discovered that her gifts, monies and items that I and my family had been sending her were not being logged into my cousins log book. The Gov. run facility case mgr. (said) he needed to call the police. He proceeded into another room. Had me come into his office to talk with (he said an officer on the phone) . He claimed he was an off duty officer, that would volunteer- to take the case- since the town police force was understaffed. Said if he did not , volunteer- no telling when anyone would get to the case. The case was swept under the rug. I had receipts to back up missing items amounting to $1000 just for Xmas 3 months earlier...Plus years of thousands of dollars were missing, plus other big ticket gifts. The Case was closed without me being notified. I had called, emailed the police begging for their return call, and even protection form being scared concerning protection about the case, even in a neighboring state. Never got a return call from the police conserning helping me, or about the case being closed. I am visiting my cousin now. I am not staying with her of course, but the situation is tense now. My cousin will not tell on the caregivers- they threaten her- if she tells- she will continue to be reprimanded. This town is small, rural, everyone knows everyone. This is her hometown. She wants to stay. There is No other group home that I know of . Now, they want to move my cousin into another home with only 3 of the same girls from her group home instead of all 7. One of the main staff is the one that steels from her and will be her main group home mom. There is a ring of 3 sister that have been working in the same house, as the staff members and stealing from my cousin. One of the sisters- was fired- due to finding drugs in the home of where my cousin lived. Plus, the or sister had so much drugs in her system they had to let her go. I reported that the sisters were doing drugs in the house while on duty. I was told this by a current staff member that had only been there under a year. She trusted me and ratted. I never told how I knew of the drugs. The police who handed the investigation is who I told of the drug issue. The police never told. The lady that told me- staff member- said she told them to hire a carpet cleaner. She said That the carpet cleaner found the drugs and reported it- but I am not suppose to know. Now the gov run office refuses to let me see anything- they say I am not her Conservator or POA. I have tried reaching out to get a pro bono Lawyer in Tenn for dissabeled, mentally retarded- no one will ever return my call. I am on a limited budget, my cousin on SS. In C. TN, they have the only law that says you can not have a state appointed conservator if you are under the age of 60. I have sent the major a letter, lobbied in Washington DC by the head of VOR on behalf of my cousin, sent letters to everyone thousands- I can’t get help to get Conservitorship. My cousin is being stolen from by her caregiver staff. They have a hireky over her clothes or closet, the mailbox, etc. When I send her new clothes-the sisters steal them.The one new staff member I told you about that I trusted and worked in my cousins home, is now gone no longer in my cousins group home. The two sisters probably got her moved out of the home. They probably made up something on her to get her out. The other staff that I know and trust that has been working in my cousins house for years have been threatened by the sisters, that they better not tell on them, or her life is at steak. The older lady will not tell. She needs her job- she is scared. The sisters are young.My cousins case mgr- that ( said) he called the police- I believe is related to the sisters- and could also be stealing from my cousin- as well as the other ladies in the house that is her own POA. My cousin does not understand money, she rarely gets any of her extra money to spend of her own. They take it. She can’t ask for it- they will reprimand her. She is scared and wants to stay in the town. What can I do?
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