Mental Health: How do you help a young lady that is being sexually abused by her father?

How do you help a young lady that is being sexually abused by her father?Since this is a serious subject, I ask that only the serious minded answer. There is a 20 year old young lady that lives down the street from me. She definetly has mental problems. She is very slow, carries a doll to church, has very, very poor personal hygiene and lives in a house that is pure filth. She resides with her mother, father and brother. The mother has mental problems, as well as a 15 year old boy. The young lady works a job through vo-tech and gets very, very little pay each week and her mother takes it for gas and cigarettes for herself. As suspected, the father has been molesting her for years. This finally came out last week when she was seen running down the road completely naked and told a neighbor she was fleeing from her father. I have called DHS, the Sherrifs dept, our local mental health center and can get no help for this poor girl. Does anyone out there have any suggestions. I am not a teenager writing about this. I am indeed old enough to be her grandmother. She attends my church and has told many sad stories about how she is treated at home. I want to help her, but I have just hit dead ends no matter who I call.

Answer by Cherish Cheyenne
call the state police and try to get the boy and the girl out of the house look in the phone book or just call 911 and they'll connect you to the state police or the special victims unit don't give up though you need to call someone if the police don't help you then try telling a neighbor and tell them you don't know what to do and see if they'll help you

Answer by julesrules
Look up CPS--------------------- Child Protective Services or the Abuse hotline.
Yes, and the State Police. They will direct from there.

Answer by Sharon
Since this girl is 20, she is an adult. here, in Texas, we have an Adult Protective Services that investigates cases about the elderly or special needs people who are not teens. Go to their office if you do not get much satisfaction over the phone. Keep going up the hierarchy of authority in your city----city attorney, county attorney, mayor, congressman, etc. It just depends on how energetic you are and how committed to help this young woman.

Answer by adventure30
Are there any other witnesses willing to speak up. If you can get a group of concerned individuals that is a great place to start. There are adult protective services as well and they have the same authority for disabled adults as CPS has with children. Oddly enough, you may be better off starting with Child Protective Services. If she is developmentally challenged and emotionally a minor, they may be willing to intervene or at least tell you where to start. You may need to call the police while at her place of employment and have them come there. That way she can give a statement. Either way, you should file an official police report and have anyone who witnessed this do the same. Alot of times nothing can or will be done until after a report is filed. Someone maybe able to fight for custody of her. If he molested her before she was of legal age, the statute of limitations have likely not expired. Also you need to look for advocates for the disabled. If there aren't any, you may have found your calling. Either way place a complaint with CPS about the condition of the home, the boy, and molestation of the girl. The biggest problem facing the young lady is that usually, there is no place for her to go unless someone volunteers. The Sheriff and the Mental Health Center know there are a shortage of beds nationwide. There isn't even enough room to keep patients whose mental illness causes them to be a danger to society. Patients with a history of murder and rape are often released once they take enough pills to think straight. They quit their meds and wander unsupervised in society until they commit another crime. As far as the boy goes, foster care is sometimes worse then where they came from. I would highly recommend trying to locate a potential family on your own if you or someone else has the time or the heart to find someone. Also, try to locate a private foster care program, they are sometimes better off with a better selection of homes, and may have some advice. Also, they can help a family get set up with less restrictions (usually) if you find one. If the pastor intervenes it may improve the chances. It really does take a village, the question is can you build one. Hope I helped.

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