Download This treatment of nursing home residents cannot

JH DECISION/ACTION REQUEST
LA;
SUBJECT/ISSUE: Postal regulations which
DATE;
d
ferre
prevent forwarding of mail to trans
nursing home residents
Alison Barnes
March 5, 1990
with delivery
SUMMARY; Current postal regulations interfere unreasonablyone
facility to
of mail to nursing home residents who are transferred fromresponsibi
lity
another. The regulation places with the nursing home the rs. The post
for identifying the forwarding address and remailing lette home residents,
office does not accept change of address cards for nursing to other
so the mail cannot be forwarded by the procedure available
the
people. If the facility fails for fulfill its responsibility,
mail
residents are cut off from their mail. If the facility closes,oyed. is
returned to the post office to be returned to sender or destr
BACKGROUND (ATTACH ADDITIONAL MATERIALS WHERE NECESSARY);
Newspaper article on Florida residents affected by the reg.
a
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM; US Postal Services regulation provides
ed persons
procedure for forwarding mail to inmates and institutionaliz
office does
which differs from standard forwarding procedures. The post
the mail is
not accept a change of address for such individuals; instead,ifyin
g a
delivered to the institution, which is responsible for identrd the
mail;
forwarding address. In practice, institutions may not forwa
dure by
or, if the institution is no longer in business, there is no proce
which the mail can reach the addressee. Instead, it is returned to the
post office for disposition.
This regulation has a particularly harsh effect on nursing home very
world
residents, whose only contact wtih loved ones and the outsidewhen
the
often is through the mail they receive. The mail would stop
be
may
resident moves from one nursing home to another, a change which
involuntary. Therefore, they are cut off from emotional support and
orientation to the outside world when it is most needed.
residents with
The regulation makes an error in categorising nursing home hospi
tals. The
inmates and short term residents of institutions, such as
is
right of inmates to free communication with the outside world
Also,
diminished and the need for efficiency is relatively more important.
a correctional facility is far more likely to keep track of the inmate and
forward the mail accurately.
n
With hospital patients, whose stays are relatively short, the burde
justify
of forwarding by the post office would be sufficiently heavy toihood
the
placing the responsibility with the hospital. Also, the likel
small, since
mail is of great personal or financial importance is veryains
a permanent
unlike a nursing home resident the hospital patient maint
address in the community.
Attachment;
This treatment of nursing home residents cannot be justinfied
or
arguments for the convenience or efficiency of the institutio
where
office. The nursing home is indeed home 'for the residents,
should receive their mail just as they would in the community, or
changing residences in the community.
by
the post
they
upon
THE SITUATION IN THE STATES: The principal advocates for
regulation are in Florida, in the office of the Long Term a change in this
However, individuals in any state would be similarly affe Care Ombudsman.
cted. We have
asked the National Association of State Units on Aging
to gather more
information from advocates regarding the number of individu
als affected.
The Pennsylvania Long Term Care Ombudsman considers this
to be a
serious problem for nursing home residents. He recounts
the
situ
ation of
a nursing home which was placed under receivership, and
its
30
resi
dents
dispersed throughout the state whereever beds were avai
Subsequently, some residents were transferred a second lable.
time to a permanent
location or to be closer to family members or home communit
ies.
The director of the AAA and the Ombu
n worked with the post office
to get a agreement by which the AAA would dsma
l in" for the defunct
facility by receiving and redirecting mail."fil
gh he was sympathetic and
cooperative, the postmaster refused to accept Thou
change of address cards for
the residents and forward the mail in the standard
manner; he felt his
hands were tied by the regulation.
PERSPECTIVE OF THE POST OFFICE: According to unofficial
official in Governmental Relations for the Post Office, statements by an
delivering nursing home resident mail is essentially identhe procedure for
of business or other institutional mail pieces of mail tical to delivery
by zip code and delivered in bulk for distribution with are machine sorted
in the company or
institution. The responsibility for forwarding mail lies
with the
corporate or institutional entity. Sorting in order to
forw
ard mail to an
individual is a manual task, conflicting with the post
office's goal of
automating all operations.
On the other hand, Government Relations states that regu
lations do
not actually prohibit postmasters from accepting change
of
address forms
for nursing home residents. In fact, they are advised
to
use
their
discretion to facilitate the delivery of mail in special
use this discretion, while some take a restrictive view situations. Some
of the regulation.
PROPOSED ACTION: I propose that you send a letter of inqu
iry to the
postmaster, requesting an investigation of the current
prac
tice, proposals
for any needed changes in practices, and estimated cost
s to implement
changes. Government Relations has asked for such a lett
reconsideration of the situation. A letter is attached er, to initiate a
for your review.
DECISION/ACTION REQUESTED;
Approve attached letter to the Postmaster?
Yes_____
No____
LA RECOMMENDATION;
Yes. This is a problem which has been developing
for some time, with the growth in numbers and
increasing age of nursing
home residents. It is an issue everyone can empa
thize with you can't get
the mail that's so important to you. And the only
factor on the side of
the regulation is an argument for efficiency which lump
s disabled
grandmothers with prison inmates.
Also, Pennsylvania can provide a good
example of the problem.