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Mahoning County officials form coalition to address hoarding behaviors
YOUNGSTOWN
A coalition of Mahoning County health, mental health, zoning, police, recycling, adult protective and animal control officials has been organized to address the mental health, fire and sanitation issues posed by the hoarding behaviors of some county residents.
A broad cross section of these and other officials attended a recent organizational meeting of the hoarding coalition.
There, they heard Canton and Stark County officials discuss their hoarding coalition and its strategies to deal with hoarding problems, including health board orders and cleanup and recycling efforts.
Zoning, public health, fire and animal control officials can detect hoarding; and adult protective and community mental health counseling agencies can help remedy the problem, said Duane Piccirilli, executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board.
Homemaker and chore services personnel can help reduce the clutter in a hoarder’s home, he said.
“It’s a bigger problem than just the mental health system should address;” and solving the problem requires a multiagency approach, he added.
“Where that has to start would be housing, code enforcement and things like that,” to identify people with serious hoarding problems who may need help, said Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti.
“Sometimes there’s an element of isolation. They don’t come out of the house. Nobody sees them. It’s not uncommon for us to run into decedents who are literally buried in their own houses” by clutter, observed Dr. Joseph Ohr, Mahoning County deputy coroner and forensic pathologist.
Typically, such a case is reported to authorities by a neighbor, relative or concerned citizen who hasn’t seen that person for awhile and asks authorities to check on that person’s well-being, he said.
Hoarding is a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Piccirilli said.
“Maybe the living room can’t be used. It’s a collection zone. Moving through the home is very difficult. Exits might be blocked,” said Toni Notaro, the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board’s compliance and evaluation director.
“It could get to the situation where there’s a fire safety hazard,” Piccirilli said.
“Hoarding can be inside as well as outside,” he said, noting that abandoned cars and tires can be part of the problem.
Porches and yards are sometimes cluttered, and garages are sometimes so cluttered they can’t accommodate a car, Notaro added.
Hoarders buy and collect things they don’t need, she said.
Notaro advised examining one’s closets, drawers and cabinets and considering whether to discard or donate items that haven’t been worn or used in two years or longer.
“If you don’t pay attention to it or you don’t go through it, then it starts to grow, and then it becomes unmanageable and then it becomes overwhelming,” she said of clutter.
“Roughly every six weeks, it comes to our attention that there is somebody at risk, and, usually, it comes to our attention because our board funds guardianship programs,” Piccirilli said.
“Initially, somebody will call and say the person needs a guardian. That’s when we start the investigation, and sometimes a guardian is warranted, but sometimes, the person wouldn’t qualify for a guardian, but the situation’s still there,” he explained.
If the hoarder’s home is inhabited by children, county Children Services would be asked to investigate, he added.
“People are more aware of it now. Some of the TV shows have illuminated the issue, and people are aware that this isn’t normal and there is help out there. And so people are more willing to make the phone call or reach out and understand that this is unhealthy,” Notaro said.
“A lot of the people that live like that, their utilities are off or something else has compounded the issue,” said Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler.
“You’ve got to find a way to help them,” he said during a recent commissioners’ meeting.
“You can have, on the extreme end, a facility or a home that has rotting food, rats, feces from animals,” or floor boards caving in, Notaro added.
The American Psychiatric Association estimates up to 5 percent of the world’s population displays hoarding symptoms.
Hoarders collect too many things, have trouble organizing them and are reluctant to discard them, especially items that appear useless to others. Many hoarders also suffer from depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse or attention deficit disorder, the association says.