Stephen moved in directly from prison. He was one of the lucky ones who had a counselor to help him apply for housing early, so he was at the top of the waitlist when parole came through.
We set up regular case management meetings but usually had to go knock on his door because he had trouble keeping track of time. He had suffered a brain injury from an assault years ago and reported that it made him a completely different person and left him. With little short-term memory, he was always apologizing for not remembering discussions with case managers and staff.
Besides the loss of time and memory, it was difficult to keep track of him and keep him safe. He would drink alcohol to numb his new, scary world and wander away. Sometimes he would wake up in the hospital, not knowing how we got there, or that a seizure was the cause. Sometimes, he would wake up in the county jail and not remember the fight that put him there. We worried about how long we could work with him — he needed more support and structure than we could provide in this setting.
Where could Stephen go and be safe?
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