On Tuesday morning, Isabelle Jessich stood on shaky legs in the driveway of her Edina home and held out her arms to her smiling teenage daughter."Hello everybody," Jessich shouted. "My sweet home!"
Jessich, 56, had longed for this homecoming ever since she was taken to a hospital in June 2008, malnourished, disoriented and weakened by alcoholism. She thought it would come sooner. She has been sober for more than a year, and in May, her doctor pronounced her ready to live in her own house once again. Jessich was desperate to take care of her daughter, Allison, who was left to fend for herself after her mother was institutionalized.
But Jessich was legally barred from making the decision to go home. Where she lived, and virtually all other major life choices, were under the control of a professional guardian, Joseph Vogel, who was appointed to the case last year when a Hennepin County judge determined Jessich was incapacitated.
Vogel never earned the trust of Jessich, who found that the more she fought to regain her rights, the harder the system fought to keep her a ward of the state. For months she languished in the Robbinsdale Rehab and Care Center nursing home, feeling more like a prisoner than a patient.
After the Star Tribune published an Aug. 23 story about Jessich's situation, she felt a gradual easing of the guardian's restrictions. This fall, she began going home on weekends, and she spent Thanksgiving with her family. Her next step, according to updates from her guardian and staff at the nursing home, would be a move to a group home.
But last week, a social worker gave Jessich stunning news. On Dec. 1, she would go home. Jessich said no one explained what had changed.
On Tuesday morning, Vogel, who remains in control of her affairs, handed Jessich her driver's license and a piece of paper detailing the approximately $200 per week she would receive for expenses.
Vogel, who previously said it was either unsafe or too costly for Jessich to go home, refused to explain his change of mind.
"I think the best thing to say now is nothing at all," Vogel said Tuesday.
Full Article and Source:
Isabelle Jessich: Happy Return to "My Sweet Home!"
See Also:
Editorial: Protective Services Outdated
"I feel like I'm in jail"
I am so pleased Isabelle Jessich got to go home. She needs to rid herself of the guardian still, but at least she's at home.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what, people almost always want to go home. Bad guardians confining their wards to nursing facilities against their will should be removed and barred from any other appointments as guardians.
ReplyDeleteOn Tuesday morning, Vogel, who remains in control of her affairs, handed Jessich her driver's license and a piece of paper detailing the approximately $200 per week she would receive for expenses.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
1) How much is Vogel billing Jessich for his services?
2) Could it be more than the "allowance" Vogel is "giving" to Jessich?
3) How much money did Jessich lose due to the guardianship?
I am thrilled that Jessich is back home, home sweet home!
And what a generous allowance!
ReplyDeleteHow much does the guardian keep for himself?
I especially don't appreciate Vogel's previous comment that it was too costly for Jessich to go home.
ReplyDeleteIf guardians and lawyers we're paid such exhorbitant fees, there would be plenty of money.
How much was it costing to keep her jailed in a nursing home?
"Allowance" gets my goat. IT'S HER MONEY NOT AN ALLOWANCE!
ReplyDeleteShe experienced what most victims experience...once a guardian gets a hold of a person, they are like hookworms and won't let go.
ReplyDeleteI am happy for her that she is home, though.
That's got to feel good!
Celebrate, Isabelle!
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that everyone is so quick to condemn this conservator. Did anyone read all the stories surrounding this? Seems to me the reporter was way off base - get out there and read all of the articles.
ReplyDelete