Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 10:05 AM
Subject: Save Chreyl
After sorting out where you are, I would start by contacting Boulder County Mental Heath. I'm thinking that if Cheryl is being treated and medicated, she would be more likely to start moving in a positive direction. So tell BCMH that your mom is mentally ill, suffering from severe depression. Tell them that depression runs in the family (Uncle Jimmy). Tell them that Cheryl resists going for help and is engaged in self destructive behaviors. Ask them what is the best way, custody, guardianship, or whatever to move her into treatment. Get detailed instructions on process. Tell them she is no longer capable of making decisions for herself and you are afraid that she is suicidal.

Laurie said that getting Cheryl on Disability may not be very easy to do. In that process you must prove that you are no longer able to work at your job. But because Cheryl's flaming paranoia drove her underground, the records won't show any employment since the cigarette store. Therefore, it may be impossible to prove work, to then prove that she is too disabled to do. Please confirm this, but don't go blindly forward without checking this out. Laurie says that if Disability is out of the picture, you are left with AND, or Aide to the Needy and Disabled. That doesn't pay like Disability, but is slightly more than welfare.

That's why I think your best option is to get the mental illness treated. You may not have to get custody, but it may take an involuntary commitment hearing. That's when Cheryl will turn into Linda Blair. But with enforced treatment and medication, you stand the best chance of getting her back working and back into the real world.