Queener guardians deal with more care hurdles

Queener guardians deal with more care hurdles


11:33 PM, Feb. 13, 2012

Bob Queener of Des Moines, a dementia patient who has become the face of what some say are injustices in how elderly and mentally disabled Iowans are treated, is again facing uncertain living arrangements that his guardians describe as cruel.

The latest news: Queener was shipped to a psychiatric ward at the Veterans Administration hospital in Des Moines about 10 days ago, and his court-ordered care facility — Trinity Center at Luther Park — is now taking steps to assure that he won’t return to its care, his co-guardians say.

The guardians also say they were not notified of a commitment hearing in Polk County on Friday, and that the situation has left people who oversee Queener’s care to scramble in an attempt to find suitable living arrangements for the 80-year-old Korean War veteran, who also has autism.

“He’s a fine man,” Sen. Dennis Black, D-Grinnell and Queener’s co-guardian, said on the Senate floor Monday. “He’s done great things for this country. He’s always attended to his own business and never has been involved in crime, and now he’s being thrown away by the system.”

The problems began in December of 2009, when, without warning to his family, state Department of Human Services staffers with police escorts removed Queener from his Des Moines home of 40 years and placed him against his will in a locked mental health unit. The next day, his family briefly panicked because they thought he had disappeared.

His family said that three months later most of Queener’s possessions were sold or thrown away by a stranger authorized by the court to control his property. The family said the state acted too hastily. Officials from the DHS were investigating whether the family was ensuring appropriate care and said they were trying their best to protect Queener’s well-being.

Ultimately, Queener’s home was sold, and once the more than $6,000 in monthly care bills had siphoned away his entire life’s savings, he was placed on a Medicaid program known as Title 19, which pays for his care but not for a private room.

Black and Queener’s niece, Cheri Jensen, say that Luther Park officials have noted at least one incident when Queener allegedly was in a physical confrontation with a fellow resident. Jensen and Black say the care facility is trying to quash a court order that it provide his care. They say Luther Park’s managers contend it cannot provide the care Queener needs.

A Polk County magistrate judge ruled Friday that the Veterans Administration must try to find an alternative location for Queener if he is unable to relocate at Luther Park.

Black and the family, so far, have found only one place to take him, and that’s in Keokuk, far away from any family. Black said guardians will attempt to resolve the issue yet this week.

Angie Mesenbrink, a Luther Park spokeswoman, said she was aware of the situation but unable to comment because of federal privacy laws. Luther Park sent a statement, however, saying since Queener arrived at its facility in January 2010, “we have kept his guardianship fully informed as to developments and concerns regarding his care and we will continue to do so. All care decisions at Trinity Center are always focused on the needs and safety of our residents.”

The Senate last year passed a bill, Senate File 492, that said court-appointed guardians and conservators must provide an affidavit to a person’s family detailing the person’s removal from the home and an inventory of the person’s possessions. The bill has not passed the House.

Black advocated for the bill on Monday, telling his peers that they likely have similar situations in their districts and possibly even their own families.

Jensen said that moving her uncle to various facilities and keeping him in a room with others aggravates his mental and physical conditions.

“The Bob Queener saga continues, and it’s sad,” Jensen said Monday.

Please read complete article at link below:


http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120214/NEWS10/302140039/-1/ENT05/Queener-guardians-deal-more-care-hurdles%22

Editor's note: Readers of this blog will immediately understand that this type of kidnapping and theft of personal property takes place under the aegis of the Probate Court of Cook County.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster,  ProbateSharks.com

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