Brainstorm -- In Minnesota, they actually have a pretty good program for the protection of Vulnerable Adults. A Vulnerable Adult is someone that is has an impairment, mental or functional. Although SIL does pretty well, and can do things - I do believe that she has several reasons do be considered a Vulnerable Adult, regardless of if she wants to admit it or not.

Isn't it neglect that Fargo (Cass County) social services have allowed her to live in a trailer with no running water and try to handle a bad divorce on her own? Isn't it abuse that they then punish her for making bad decisions when they know that qualifies for help?

Hmm. The contact that just voicemailed me is The Human Services Center from http://www.nd.gov/dhs/info/pubs/docs/aging/aging-vulnerable-adults-factsheet.pdf We'll just see what they say about investigating if this case is handled correctly and if M should have been getting help all along instead of being treated worse than a drug addict.

(No, not being rhetorical. If a mother abuses drugs, she can get her kids back after completing rehab, so in a month or two. SIL has been separated from her children, not allowed but a couple of visits and no private phone calls for almost 2 years. Fact - not rhetoric.)