I wonder if I might have found a new social work niche...

A woman called the office on Friday. She is trying to help her 20 year old niece who is legally blind and has brain tumors. She is on Medicare, SSI but has to pay out of pocket for her prescriptions. Her brother told her she could move here from Washington state and live with him. She moves and he moves out. Her rent is paid up to the end of the month. She cannot afford medication on her small SSI check AND pay the rent.

She had to go to the ER last night because she ran out of meds. Now the hospital social worker has called her and told the aunt that she could be turned in for adult abuse. I want to know who this social worker is. I hate it when people do things like that. This woman is trying to help. She lives out of state and came here for a short time to try to help her niece. She is trying to do the job of a social worker with her family member and has no training and knows none of the local resources.

Why do we let people like this fall through the cracks? Why?