Shield Alert for Joan Aufderheide in Farmington, Missouri, USA
Overview
Joan Aufderheide is an elderly person with disabilities and the only woman at a 22-person forensic ward at Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center (SMMHC) in Farmington, Missouri, where she has been forcibly incarcerated for the past two years and counting. Her therapist, licensed psychologist Dr. Daniel Levin, has made an on-the-record statement declaring that Joan is not a threat to herself or others and that there is absolutely no reason to psychiatrically imprison her.
Joan’s current situation is the result of an incident from twenty-five years ago in which she mistakenly took an unattended vehicle with keys left inside and her public defender urged her to plead Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI). Since that fateful incident, and due to legal incompetence, case workers have dominated every aspect of her life.
In March 2022 Joan’s conditional release was revoked because she had traveled without permission from her home in Park Hills, Missouri to Columbia, Missouri in order to have her service dog evaluated by a professional trainer. Neither she nor Dr. Levin was allowed to attend the court hearing where this decision was made.
Notably, having a service dog is a right protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and keeping the appointment in Columbia was vital for Joan to exercise this right. She has attempted to file a complaint about this with Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services to no avail.
Moreover, the ward where Joan is being forced to reside contains patients whom she and her support network report were convicted of violent crimes including murder and sexual assault—an especially traumatizing environment for Joan, who is a survivor of childhood physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Joan reports having been physically assaulted by patients on four occasions and verbally threatened with murder. She lacks privacy and the ability to lock her room, as is the case with most psychiatric wards, and consequently lives in fear for her life.
Joan is also isolated from her support network. Staff members have ignored her repeated requests to add specific individuals to her approved phone list, resulting in unnecessary delays of up to two months in her ability to speak with family, friends, and therapists.
In addition, Joan is immunocompromised due to having asthma. Living in a congregated setting therefore puts her physical health at risk. For example, she has contracted COVID-19 twice since being incarcerated at SMMHC, whereas she had always been COVID-free when living independently.
Call to Action
Please contact the Chief Executive Officer of Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center, Donna Anderson, either by phone at 573-218-6792 or via email at donna.anderson@dmh.mo.gov. Key talking points to relay to Ms. Anderson include the following:
1. Joan Aufderheide (her last name is pronounced “off-dare-Heidi”) should be discharged immediately.
• Joan’s living conditions at SSMHC are inhumane and highly detrimental to her mental and physical health.
• An elderly trauma survivor with no history of violent crime does not belong in a forensic unit with individuals reported to have committed violent crimes such as murder and sexual assault.
• The unjustified segregation of people with disabilities is a form of unlawful discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C.
• SMMHC’s treatment of Joan is unethical not only to Joan herself, but also to the residents of Missouri whose tax money is being used to fund her wrongful institutionalization.
2. Dr. Daniel Levin should be allowed to be part of Joan’s treatment team.
Please share any actions that you have taken on behalf of Joan in the comments section below. Thank you for your support!
Note
When choosing your words, remember that Joan is at risk of retaliation and you are supporting her under the MindFreedom banner. MindFreedom International does not condone threats of violence or harm, and asks all Shield Alert participants to adhere to its mission statement:
In a spirit of mutual cooperation, MindFreedom International aims to lead a non-violent revolution of freedom, equality, truth, and human rights in mental health care by uniting psychiatric survivors, consumers, and allies through movements for justice everywhere.