Regarding charging her for calls, I'm assuming this is something they said directly to your mother and she is relaying it to you? In which case, I'm thinking that the (idle) threat of a fee on phone calls was probably an early attempt at getting her to stop calling 911. Some people only respond when they think it will hit them in the wallet. Somewhere in the process, the facility took the phone from her in order to stop the behavior for real. I'd imagine there would be a fine or penalty at some point for unnecessary 911 calls coming from the same person/place. There would almost have to be something official to make the facility take action in cases like this.
I had the opposite problem where the 911 calls were fast and furious while LO was in her home. It got to be where we could see the signs of when she was planning to call and then she would wait until she was alone - like a little kid pulling a prank. Interestingly, the 911 calling stopped when she was placed. Had it not stopped, I would anticipate the facility would have to take the phone.
I have read news articles where in some communities people are fined for calling 911 inappropriately. It ties up much needed resources.
If your mother is unable to use the service appropriately then her access to a phone should be restricted.
I have a family member that does board and care for a young man with developmental delays. They live just down the road of the local emergency services (police, ambulance and fire). He started calling 911 because he loved to see the vehicles drive by the house with lights and siren. His access to the phone was limited, they got a corded phone to replace the cordless one, so they knew where it was. A visit to the emergency services building and a meeting with the fire chief and police chief was enough to teach him that they would make sure everyone was safe and that he did not need to call him.
Think of your mother like that young man, she is losing her ability to reason, so she needs to have her access to a phone restricted. And yes, she can be fined for abusing 911.
If the phone is provided by the facility, then yes the can take it away because she is causing a problem. Mom pays for that phone I would think. They don't provide the service for free. So, you need to find out what their policies are concerning phones. It maybe they provide the phone but every outgoing call Mom makes she is charged for. Could be per call, could be per minute? My Mom never hand one so I was never billed. In the end, I probably would pay for the calls just for the inconvenience they caused.
Your mother cannot be allowed to keep a phone if she is calling 911 and cannot know not to do this. This is very dangerous to a crucial system. There may be a policy on charges for her calls to you; so you may want to consider setting limits on calls for her. It is sad that she doesn't understand she cannot do this, but not an unusual situation. My brother's ex has been moved to a cottage now that doesn't allow their own phones, nor their own TV because they cannot remember to use the remotes or the phones responsibly. This happens. It's very sad, but happened. Speak to administration about phone call costs ongoing now, and how to work with their system. So sorry this is happening.
It’s not legal to abuse the 911 system which is what your mother is doing. But somehow I don’t think that’s what you were asking. If she’s abusing the 911 system then what do you expect the facility to do? You should review the contract for the facility and see what it says about charging for phone calls and from there, speak to the administrator. If the contract says there are fees for phone usage, you really don’t have much recourse. I assume they want to charge her when she uses a phone provided bh the facility? The contract may or may not address it. If it’s not in the contract they shouldn’t charge you/her. our mother cannot be allowed to abuse the 911 system.
What's NOT a good idea is for your mother to be calling 911 and making a nuisance of herself, preventing real emergency calls from getting through. That's not acceptable. When dementia & ALZ reach that point, the phone has GOT to go. My aunt reached the point where she was calling 911 a lot from her AL and saying 'help me' and her phone had to be taken away also.
I don't know what's 'legal' in your mother's LTC residence. I'd have a nice chat with them and find out how they plan to go about charging her for the calls she makes. That may just be a deterrent to discourage her from wanting to use the phone. Nobody 'pays' for 911 calls, but if they're made for no good reason by an elder with dementia, that may bring a charge with it..........I don't know.
Talk to the facility and see what's really going on. You'll be better off getting the policy from them than from us! Good luck!
I had the opposite problem where the 911 calls were fast and furious while LO was in her home. It got to be where we could see the signs of when she was planning to call and then she would wait until she was alone - like a little kid pulling a prank. Interestingly, the 911 calling stopped when she was placed. Had it not stopped, I would anticipate the facility would have to take the phone.
If your mother is unable to use the service appropriately then her access to a phone should be restricted.
I have a family member that does board and care for a young man with developmental delays. They live just down the road of the local emergency services (police, ambulance and fire). He started calling 911 because he loved to see the vehicles drive by the house with lights and siren. His access to the phone was limited, they got a corded phone to replace the cordless one, so they knew where it was. A visit to the emergency services building and a meeting with the fire chief and police chief was enough to teach him that they would make sure everyone was safe and that he did not need to call him.
Think of your mother like that young man, she is losing her ability to reason, so she needs to have her access to a phone restricted. And yes, she can be fined for abusing 911.
I don't know what's 'legal' in your mother's LTC residence. I'd have a nice chat with them and find out how they plan to go about charging her for the calls she makes. That may just be a deterrent to discourage her from wanting to use the phone. Nobody 'pays' for 911 calls, but if they're made for no good reason by an elder with dementia, that may bring a charge with it..........I don't know.
Talk to the facility and see what's really going on. You'll be better off getting the policy from them than from us! Good luck!