LilMtnCbn
07-13-2004, 05:05 AM
Weird. That's a knock on the door I'd never expect. "We found your birth
mother. By the way, where do you want her body?"
http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2004071228/
Body lies
waiting for burial
Kris Wise
Daily Mail Capitol reporter
Monday July 12, 2004
The body of Mary Mawalls White has been lying at a Clay County funeral home for
almost two weeks.
The 46-year-old woman, a mentally ill transient who had been a ward of the
state for most of her life, died June 30 after an extended illness.
The Carl Wilson Funeral Home has been accepting donations from local churches
and community members since then to pay for her burial, claiming that because
the state's burial fund ran out of money in April, there's no money to give
White a final resting place.
"Our society has failed Mary," said Marge Bragg, a retired social worker from
Clay County who was White's caseworker for a number of years. "There's
something terribly wrong when a woman who couldn't care for herself in life has
no one to care for her after her death."
B.J. Smith, the director of the Carl Wilson Funeral Home in Clay said Friday
that as soon as White's estranged family -- a daughter whom had been given up
for adoption at an early age and never knew her mother -- decided on funeral
arrangements, the funeral home would see that White is buried.
The funeral home reported today White's burial and funeral is scheduled for
Saturday. Family members could not be reached.
The funeral home has been holding White's body because no one there seemed sure
whether the state ultimately would pay for her burial.
The state indigent burial fund, administered by the Department of Health and
Human Resources, sent a notice to funeral homes in April that the fund had
dried up and burials of the homeless or those unable to pay would not be
covered until money was reallocated.
It was a culmination of things that led to the empty burial account, said Doug
Robinson, finance director for the Bureau of Children and Families.
It's really nothing new; the fund has been belly-up before.
To start with, about 200 more people than usual died last year and depended on
the state for their burial costs. More than 1,300 people died and were buried
by the state in 2003, compared to about 1,100 people in 2002, Robinson said.
The burial fund also was not exempt from the 2.5 percent funding cut imposed by
the state last year, part of an across-the-board reduction all state agencies
incurred to help offset a multi-million dollar state government budget deficit.
The fund shrank from about $1.3 million in 2002 to just under $975,000 last
year, Robinson said.
Gov. Bob Wise in June put back the $325,000 that was cut from the burial fund,
and the state Legislature already had approved an additional $290,000 to
reimburse funeral homes for the expenses of burying the additional dead.
Typically when money runs out, funeral homes proceed with burials, pay costs
out of pocket and end up in the state Court of Claims seeking reimbursement
from the Department of Health and Human Services.
"They were still told to make applications (for funds)," said Robinson, the
children and family services director. "There existed a mechanism by which the
funeral home could have applied for expenses or they could have gone through
the Court of Claims."
The Court of Claims, Robinson said, typically rules the state has a "moral
obligation" to reimburse funeral homes for the cost of an indigent funeral,
regardless of whether the burial fund is full or bankrupt when a person dies.
Once the new fiscal year began in July, the state's burial fund was fully
functioning and funeral expenses once again could be processed without court
intervention, Robinson said.
Smith, the Clay County funeral director, said Friday that because White died
June 30, a day before the state's new fiscal year accounts kicked in, it was
unclear whether her funeral would be covered by the indigent burial fund.
"We can't afford to pay for it ourselves, but there's been enough donations we
can go ahead and do it as soon as (White's daughter) decides what she'd like to
have done," Smith said. "The proper thing should be done."
Smith said the process of dealing with the Court of Claims is a lengthy one for
funeral homes when the burial fund runs out. The state funeral directors'
association has been working with the state Auditor's Office to speed the
process of reimbursement, which can take up to a year after funeral homes wind
up in court.
Smith said at least in White's case, the community has been generous in
pitching in to bury indigents when the burial fund runs out.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the burial fund was back up
and running by mid-June and money would have been more quickly available when
White died June 30 had the funeral home applied for reimbursement.
Smith said it wasn't until Friday -- 10 days after White's death -- that his
funeral home had contact with department officials, who told him to go ahead
and apply for burial money.
"I don't think you'll find many funeral homes that say, ‘We aren't going to
bury a person because there isn't any money,' " said Roger Price, executive
director of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association.
When money is available, the state provides about $1,250 for each burial.
"Speaking for our members, we don't mind providing the funeral service almost
gratis, but what we do have a problem with is taking money out of our pockets
for the privilege of doing it," Price said. "And even with the $1,250, that
doesn't cover everything."
"It is not a unique situation and we don't like for it to happen," Price said
of the state's burial fund being drained. "We don't tell every funeral director
how to conduct business, we simply tell them what options are available."
Bragg, the retired Clay County social worker who was White's caseworker since
1976, said the woman deserved a proper burial and shouldn't be kept "lying in
cold storage" at a funeral home for two weeks.
White had been in a personal care facility before her death and had been ill
for years, Bragg said.
"The thing that appalls me is that (White) has been cared for by the state
since she was a child," Bragg said.
She said White grew up in a family that survived mostly on welfare checks. She
was diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia, and had four children, one who died
at birth and the other three whom Bragg helped take into state custody and who
eventually were given up for adoption.
"She lived a kind of transient, marginal life," Bragg said. "She probably
wasn't a very likable character to most people, but she was still a person.
There are few people to mourn her. But there was a side to her that most people
didn't know, and we have a responsibility to care for her."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
mother. By the way, where do you want her body?"
http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2004071228/
Body lies
waiting for burial
Kris Wise
Daily Mail Capitol reporter
Monday July 12, 2004
The body of Mary Mawalls White has been lying at a Clay County funeral home for
almost two weeks.
The 46-year-old woman, a mentally ill transient who had been a ward of the
state for most of her life, died June 30 after an extended illness.
The Carl Wilson Funeral Home has been accepting donations from local churches
and community members since then to pay for her burial, claiming that because
the state's burial fund ran out of money in April, there's no money to give
White a final resting place.
"Our society has failed Mary," said Marge Bragg, a retired social worker from
Clay County who was White's caseworker for a number of years. "There's
something terribly wrong when a woman who couldn't care for herself in life has
no one to care for her after her death."
B.J. Smith, the director of the Carl Wilson Funeral Home in Clay said Friday
that as soon as White's estranged family -- a daughter whom had been given up
for adoption at an early age and never knew her mother -- decided on funeral
arrangements, the funeral home would see that White is buried.
The funeral home reported today White's burial and funeral is scheduled for
Saturday. Family members could not be reached.
The funeral home has been holding White's body because no one there seemed sure
whether the state ultimately would pay for her burial.
The state indigent burial fund, administered by the Department of Health and
Human Resources, sent a notice to funeral homes in April that the fund had
dried up and burials of the homeless or those unable to pay would not be
covered until money was reallocated.
It was a culmination of things that led to the empty burial account, said Doug
Robinson, finance director for the Bureau of Children and Families.
It's really nothing new; the fund has been belly-up before.
To start with, about 200 more people than usual died last year and depended on
the state for their burial costs. More than 1,300 people died and were buried
by the state in 2003, compared to about 1,100 people in 2002, Robinson said.
The burial fund also was not exempt from the 2.5 percent funding cut imposed by
the state last year, part of an across-the-board reduction all state agencies
incurred to help offset a multi-million dollar state government budget deficit.
The fund shrank from about $1.3 million in 2002 to just under $975,000 last
year, Robinson said.
Gov. Bob Wise in June put back the $325,000 that was cut from the burial fund,
and the state Legislature already had approved an additional $290,000 to
reimburse funeral homes for the expenses of burying the additional dead.
Typically when money runs out, funeral homes proceed with burials, pay costs
out of pocket and end up in the state Court of Claims seeking reimbursement
from the Department of Health and Human Services.
"They were still told to make applications (for funds)," said Robinson, the
children and family services director. "There existed a mechanism by which the
funeral home could have applied for expenses or they could have gone through
the Court of Claims."
The Court of Claims, Robinson said, typically rules the state has a "moral
obligation" to reimburse funeral homes for the cost of an indigent funeral,
regardless of whether the burial fund is full or bankrupt when a person dies.
Once the new fiscal year began in July, the state's burial fund was fully
functioning and funeral expenses once again could be processed without court
intervention, Robinson said.
Smith, the Clay County funeral director, said Friday that because White died
June 30, a day before the state's new fiscal year accounts kicked in, it was
unclear whether her funeral would be covered by the indigent burial fund.
"We can't afford to pay for it ourselves, but there's been enough donations we
can go ahead and do it as soon as (White's daughter) decides what she'd like to
have done," Smith said. "The proper thing should be done."
Smith said the process of dealing with the Court of Claims is a lengthy one for
funeral homes when the burial fund runs out. The state funeral directors'
association has been working with the state Auditor's Office to speed the
process of reimbursement, which can take up to a year after funeral homes wind
up in court.
Smith said at least in White's case, the community has been generous in
pitching in to bury indigents when the burial fund runs out.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the burial fund was back up
and running by mid-June and money would have been more quickly available when
White died June 30 had the funeral home applied for reimbursement.
Smith said it wasn't until Friday -- 10 days after White's death -- that his
funeral home had contact with department officials, who told him to go ahead
and apply for burial money.
"I don't think you'll find many funeral homes that say, ‘We aren't going to
bury a person because there isn't any money,' " said Roger Price, executive
director of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association.
When money is available, the state provides about $1,250 for each burial.
"Speaking for our members, we don't mind providing the funeral service almost
gratis, but what we do have a problem with is taking money out of our pockets
for the privilege of doing it," Price said. "And even with the $1,250, that
doesn't cover everything."
"It is not a unique situation and we don't like for it to happen," Price said
of the state's burial fund being drained. "We don't tell every funeral director
how to conduct business, we simply tell them what options are available."
Bragg, the retired Clay County social worker who was White's caseworker since
1976, said the woman deserved a proper burial and shouldn't be kept "lying in
cold storage" at a funeral home for two weeks.
White had been in a personal care facility before her death and had been ill
for years, Bragg said.
"The thing that appalls me is that (White) has been cared for by the state
since she was a child," Bragg said.
She said White grew up in a family that survived mostly on welfare checks. She
was diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia, and had four children, one who died
at birth and the other three whom Bragg helped take into state custody and who
eventually were given up for adoption.
"She lived a kind of transient, marginal life," Bragg said. "She probably
wasn't a very likable character to most people, but she was still a person.
There are few people to mourn her. But there was a side to her that most people
didn't know, and we have a responsibility to care for her."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
