I’m at a complete loss over a client’s unsanitary home. I’ve already informed my supervisor, but the issue hasn’t been addressed.

I’ve already complained to the case supervisor and a home check was scheduled, but the parents were told about the home check ahead of time, so they did a deep cleaning. After the home check was complete, the house went right back to its original state.

There are several animals in this home — both cats and dogs. I have never had an allergy to pet dander, but there’s so much and the house is vacuumed so infrequently that I’ve literally had allergic reactions to it. All of the animals are covered in fleas and my client’s ankles and feet are covered in bites. The house wreaks of urine and feces. My client’s younger sister, who is 8, still uses diapers, and the family disposes of the diapers in an uncovered receptacle in the bathroom. They don’t roll up the diapers or anything — they’ll just chuck them in the bin, poo side up and exposed.

Sometimes there are feces on the toilet seat.

There are currently 5 fly strips hanging from the living room ceiling, and they are all super-saturated with flies. There are usually fat flies buzzing around and landing on me for the entirety of session.

The kitchen sink is always filled with dishes. The cat box is always overflowing and there’s cat feces all over the wall behind the box. There’s a ton of laundry piled all over the place. There’s old food in the client’s room, and the place is just filthy all of the time.

The mom is morbidly obese and confined to a Jazzy scooter. She had weight loss surgery fairly recently, so I guess her condition partially explains things, but dad is around to help. Neither works and the house still looks and smells this way.

The fact that they deep cleaned before the home check lets me know that they’re aware that the state of their home is unacceptable, but home checks are only an annual requirement and theirs has already been signed off on for the year.

I’m quite fond of the client and have a lot of sympathy for the family, but I’m sorry to say that sometimes being in their home makes me feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack. It’s hard to breathe. The odors are overwhelming. There’s so much clutter. I see the bites on my client and the fleas crawling on the animals, and I start feeling phantom itches. Flies land on my face and I feel so frustrated that I want to cry.

I’m not trying to be a precious princess, but this can’t be okay. What can I do?