NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's a situation so many of us can relate to. What happens when someone we care about who can't live on their own loses their only caregiver? That's the situation one autistic woman is in today.
"Get another piece in there, Mercury," smiled Chris Milfred, watching his daughter put together a puzzle. "It's perfect!"
Mercury is autistic.
"She's fairly high functioning," Chris said. "She's very quick with electronics and computers, things of that nature. She can communicate with me, but I don't think she'd be able to go into a restaurant and order food and be able to do some of the tasks that would be required if she were totally living on her own."
Mercury has long lived with her mother. Only days before Christmas, her mother died.
"Mercury was sitting there with her," Chris said. "She was probably there a few hours before a friend came. She was sufficiently traumatized. She wanted to go back and see her mom, and they wouldn't let in the room."
With her mother's death, Mercury immediately lost her sole caregiver and her home.
"I didn't want her to go in the system, just couldn't let that happen," Chris said.
Chris said his home has two children in it and that's given Mercury too much anxiety to stay there. She's at a hotel while Chris tries to navigate what to do next.
"It took me a week to find out what she even had available to her and how to move forward," he said.
The Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities spoke to NewsChannel 5 about what happens in situations similar to this. DIDD said in a statement:
"If the person has an intellectual and/or developmental disability diagnoses, they may be eligible for emergency consideration into the Employment and Community First CHOICES program. This Medicaid Waiver program offers long-term services and supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In cases where a person has a sudden loss of a caregiver, DIDD is able to link the person with their identified Managed Care Organization (the ECF CHOICES Program is administered through the state’s three MCOs) or directly conduct an Intake if the person doesn’t yet have a Managed Care Organization and quickly escalate the process to verify eligibility criteria for services.
"Obviously, of greatest importance to us is the limiting of trauma and the rapid stabilization of both care and housing for the person impacted. In most circumstances, DIDD, working in collaboration with the TennCare, identified Managed Care Organizations, and Adult Protective Services, is able to provide for emergency housing options, where warranted, through a well-established network of community providers. Once immediate care and housing are established, care providers work to develop a long term plan of care and services are initiated."
In Mercury's situation, Chris said his daughter has long asked for independence. He hopes to find a group home or a roommate situation. In the meantime, Chris has set up a GoFundMe to pay for the hotel stay until he can establish a permanent home for Mercury and maybe even find job training. That GoFundMe can be found here.
Chris said whatever options he finds Mercury must stay in Middle Tennessee.
"United Health Care said they could place her pretty quickly, but if it's location-specific, it's going to take a lot longer," he said. "I don't want her in a group home in, like, Jackson cause she'll have nobody. My hope for Mercury is that she's as autonomous as possible because she loves to do things her way. I'm humbled and grateful by all the support we've received."
