Thursday, August 12, 2010

Trust, But Verify

There is a reason they say, "Trust, but verify." When you have others paid to care for a disabled loved one, there is always the fear that someone will take advantage of the vulnerability of the individual they are caring for. It has happened to me more than once with V.
Yesterday was a sad day. I learned that my trust had been betrayed and I had to release a long-term employee and discipline two others who remain employed.
If you allow others to take your disabled family member out into the community and they use your vehicle, invest in a GPS tracking device as soon as possible and install it on the vehicle. A verbal or written report is not sufficient to know the truth about where your loved one has been if they are not able to tell you themselves. If you care where your loved one is spending their time and can't be there personally, then you need to KNOW, not think you know based on the word, written or verbal, of your employees.
It is worth the cost. New Directions won't cover this precautionary expense, so it will be out of pocket for you.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Want to see videos of V's daily activities?

V has a youtube channel. Search "ValerieinBoyds" on youtube to see short video clips of some of her activities. Many of these were filmed using a small flip video camera by the personal support staff.