When I tried to get help for Laurie, without a huge amount of money it was impossible to get the kind of decent living situation along with treatment that could have made a difference. So many times we faced this dilemma, getting a thousand referrals to places that sounded okay in description, but really weren't. For many years, when I tried to get help for Laurie I was faced with shrinking resources that had everything to do with budget cuts in health care. Possibilities of help center around rules of insurance coverage. In twentieth century America, when it comes to help for people on the fringe of society, society itself is often the nut case.
Some authorities insist there is no alternative for the most severely ill.
Everyone agrees that the quality of community-based care must be improved. Only taxpayers aren't ready to foot the bill. The last few decades has taught us that deinstitutionalization, if it is ever to succeed, will require at least as much staff and at least as much spending as long-term institutional care. If we were to say what the biggest problem still is regarding these dual diagnoses that make society show thumbs down, it's that the American public just doesn't care. When we see a sick homeless person freaking out or simply suffering on the street, we look away.