A parent of an 11-year-old girl reached out to drc for help as her daughter was recently placed on her third 5150 hold in a row and was admitted to an acute psychiatric facility, Adventist Hospital Vallejo. 

A 5150 is a law that allows certain professionals to initiate a 72-hour observation period for mentally distressed individuals in approved facilities. 

The facility said no visits due to Covid-19 and stopped all visitation since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Amy (named changed), our client, had been at Adventist for over 20 days without being permitted any in-person visitation and only one video visit. Because of this, Amy’s mom tried all her self-advocacy options, including sending multiple complaints to licensing, the county patients’ rights advocates, and even her elected officials, but with no change in visitation rights. Because of her frustration, she reached out to DRC for help.   

After learning about the situation, Disability Rights California's staff then traveled to Vallejo to visit Amy, to speak with her to ensure she wanted visitation from her mother, and make sure she wasn’t experiencing any abuse or neglect from the facility.

DRC then negotiated with the facility and secured a Zoom visit between Amy and her mother later that day. Following up on that, drc then crafted a compelling demand letter outlining Amy’s right to visitation. 

Due to Disability Rights California's advocacy Adventist Hospital Vallejo ended its ban on visitation and instituted daily visitation for all patients, starting December 27th, 2021. This will impact all the adults, adolescents, and children treated at the 64-bed facility.

While stays in acute psychiatric facilities tend to usually not be more than 30 days, access to visitors is not just a statutory right but a critical need for people who live in facilities for any amount of time. 

Every patient at Adventist Hospital Vallejo will have the ability to see their loved ones thanks to Amy's mom for reaching out and Disability Rights California's advocacy! A special thanks to Disability Rights California's Advocacy and Community Engagement (ACE) team for conducting the intake and connecting them to Jude Stern and Monique Moore from Disability Rights California's Consumer Assistance, Payee Review, and Investigations team (CAPRI).

DRC Finds Evidence of Financial Fraud by a Representative Payee

DRC’s Consumer Assistance, Payee Review, and Investigations team. (CAPRI) received a referral from Adult Protective Services about a possible case of financial theft. Barry (named change) is a representative payee for his brother, Leo (named change), who lives in a skilled nursing facility. After allegations arose that Barry wasn’t paying the appropriate bills for Leo, drc began an investigation.

Barry provided records for the full review period, stating that he did pay the required bills for Leo each month. However, after looking at the records from Barry, drc investigators noticed that there were lines, spacing, and fonts that didn’t match with the bank’s normal ledgers. For example, barcodes appeared more blurred than the bank statements’ usual barcodes; lines and numbers were crooked; certain months had math that didn’t add up or were inconsistent, which wouldn’t make sense in an automated ledger. Additionally, the nursing facility showed that Barry frequently paid significantly less than what was shown in the bank ledgers. The nursing facility also only had three months wherein they received Chase Bill Pay payments, meaning that the Chase Bill Pay withdrawals in the ledgers were faked.

This all added further proof that the documentation given to drc by Barry had been forged, and that the money wasn’t being transferred to the nursing facility as Barry was claiming, meaning that it was not clear where Leo’s money was going.

Barry also had not documented that Leo had received his Economic Income Payment (EIP). When speaking with Leo, he said that Barry had not given him the EIP money, nor did Barry discuss the EIP with Leo at all. DRC now suspected that the EIP was also stolen. Ultimately, approximately $10,000 in missing funds was presumably stolen by Barry from Leo.

Disability Rights California's findings were reported to the Social Security Administration Regional Office. They are investigating the matter further and will likely terminate Barry as Leo’s payee and refer the case to the Inspector General’s Office, and Barry may face criminal charges. drc plans to submit a complaint to the local District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit and the Bureau of Medical Fraud and Elder Abuse.