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Jennifer B. Hipp, Esquire
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1 West Main Street
Shiremanstown, PA 17011
(717) 737-8761
Attorney ID No. 86556
Assistant Cumberland County Solicitor
For Cumberland County Aging and Community Services
IN RE: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
MARCELLA GOUSE,
Older Adult ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION
NO. 21-1*15 - lc(a
PETITION FOR INVOLUNTARY ITNERVENTION BY
EMERGENCY COURT ORDER IN ACCORDANCE
WITH 35 P.S. § 10225.307
Petitioner Cumberland County Aging and Community Services, by its attorney,
Cumberland County Assistant Solicitor Jennifer B. Hipp, submits this Petition and in support
thereof states the following:
1. Petitioner is Cumberland County Aging and Community Services, having an office
located at 1100 Claremont Road, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
2. The older adult is Marcella Gouse, who is widowed, age 87, and resides at 808 Upland
Street, Mechanicsburg, Lower Allen Township, Pennsylvania 17055.
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3. Mrs. Gouse has an adult son, Floyd Gouse, who is a veteran of the Vietnam War and
suffers pronounced health problems related to his military service, and, who is recovering from a
recent knee replacement surgery.
4. On or about December 30, 2014, Petitioner received a report of need regarding Mrs.
Gouse.
5. Mrs. Gouse's home is unlivable and Lower Allen Township intends to condemn the
home on February 19, 2015 due to enhanced safety concerns, which will result in Mrs. Gouse
being removed from the home.
6. Petitioner understands that Lower Allen Township will refrain from conducting the
condemnation until Township representatives are assured that Petitioner has legal authority to
provide shelter and health care to Mrs. Gouse.
7. Petitioner has determined the following as to Mrs. Gouse's living conditions:
a. Mrs. Gouse's home does not have heat or running water and electric service is
available to only two (2) of the rooms.
b. The front door of Mrs. Gouse's home does not have a door knob and, to gain
access, someone must push from the exterior of the front door in order to open the front door.
C. Mrs. Gouse will not permit anyone access to her home beyond the front
"breezeway" (which is the front room on the first floor).
d. The "breezeway" of Mrs. Gouse's home is very cold; Petitioner has noted the heat
in the "breezeway" has registered between 28 —30 degrees in recent days.
e. The "breezeway"room of Mrs. Gouse's home is filled with piles of items that
Mrs. Gouse has covered with tarps because she states that rain enters her home.
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f. Mrs. Gouse has reported to Petitioner that she uses buckets to collect rain water in
order to flush her toilet.
g. The ceiling in the "breezeway" front room is falling down and Petitioner has
observed exposed wood beams to the floor of the second floor.
h. Mrs. Gouse reports that the water in her home is frozen.
i. Petitioner believes that the pipes in Mrs. Gouse's home are now frozen and that
she is without running water and is uncertain how Mrs. Gouse is able to remove her waste from
the toilet in the home.
j. Mrs. Gouse reports that she lives in the middle room of the first floor and uses a
portable heater as her only heat source.
k. Mrs. Gouse reports that the portable heater does not always work because the
electric company sometimes "turns it down."
1. Petitioner has observed a strong smell of mildew in Mrs. Gouse's home.
j. Mrs. Gouse has worn the same clothes for over one month, which are stained and
Mrs. Gouse reports that her clothing is wet from the leaking roof.
8. Multiple Protective Services investigators have attempted to reason with Mrs. Gouse
on multiple occasions about her unsafe living situation to no avail, as follows:
a. Mrs. Gouse's refusal of an offer for another heater;
b. Her refusal of offers to stay at a hotel;
C. Her refusal to use a sleeping bag that was provided to her for warmth;
d. Her refusal to change into warm, clean clothes that neighbors and family have
given to her; and
e. Her refusal to use ice melt that was given to her.
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9. Floyd Gouse has made multiple attempts to convince his mother, Mrs. Gouse,to leave
her home but she has steadfastly refused to do so.
10. In the past, Floyd Gouse has tried to take his mother, Mrs. Gouse, to his home but
she has walked out and tried to start walking home.
11. Petitioner believes as follows:
a. Mrs. Gouse is not medically compliant in terms of caring for any of her
physical and health needs;
b. Mrs. Gouse's cognitive abilities appeared to be compromised, in that she has
poor insight, poor judgment, lacks safety awareness and lacks comprehension of her
situation;
c. Mrs. Gouse is at risk of severe injury through exposure to nature's elements in
winter, compounded by her failure to recognize that her living conditions are unsanitary
and unsafe; and
d. Further, Mrs. Gouse does not have a place where she can reside after removal
from her home with the anticipated condemnation of her home.
12. Petitioner would like to take Mrs. Gouse to a hospital for medical professionals to
conduct a medical and psychological evaluation and provide medical and psychological
treatment as needed.
13. Petitioner has no interest adverse to that of Marcella Gouse.
WHEREFORE, Petitioner Cumberland County Aging and Community Services
respectfully requests that this Honorable Court issue an Order pursuant to Section 307 of the
Older Adults Protective Services Act(35 P.S. § 10225.307) authorizing Cumberland County
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Aging & Community Services to remove Marcella Gouse from her home with the assistance of
law enforcement authority, if necessary, and transport her to the West Shore Hospital, or other
appropriate medical facility, for medical care and a medical and psychological evaluation.
Date: February 19, 2015
Jennifer k. Hipp, Esquire
1 West Main Street
Shiremanstown, PA 17011
Cumberland County Assistant Solicitor
For Cumberland County Aging and Community
Services
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VERIFICATION
I verify that the statements made in the foregoing Petition are true and correct. I
understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. Section
4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities.
Priscilla Whitman, Cumberland County Aging and
Date: February 19, 2015 Community Services
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