A Dangerous Son Page #4

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he got really mad at him--

Ethan, he got

really mad at him,

and so...

um, Josh has guns that he hides

only from bad guys,

and Ethan found one,

so he picked it up.

And it had no bullets in it,

but he picked it up.

The very last thing

that I want to do,

that any parent wants to do,

especially at 10 years old,

is think about or have to put

their child in a...

in an institution or in a home,

to give him up.

That's not what I want to do,

but I am at the point,

and it is as bad

that if-- if nothing else,

I don't know

that I have a choice.

It's becoming more

than a safety issue.

I have a daughter.

I have to protect her,

and I can't.

Creigh:
The whole

deinstitutionalization process

was driven by two things:

One, we wanted to save money,

and, second,

we wanted to restore

people's civil rights

and treat them

in the community.

Well, we closed

the institutions down,

but we didn't really

adequately follow through

with ensuring that there

are adequate supports

in the community.

And the problem

is we don't--

we just don't have

enough beds right now.

Thomas:

We went from

about 600,000 beds,

today there are less

than 60,000 public beds

for people with serious

mental illness.

It's raised the question about,

"Does there need to be a new

kind of institution?"

Maybe not like

the old asylums,

but places where

kids, young adults,

or even older adults could go

for short periods of time

to get more

comprehensive care.

I think there

aren't enough options

available to people.

There is the sense

that rehabilitation

is a luxury for people

who have a lot of money

or who live in states

in which there are

particularly good programs

because we have

regional networks,

and in some places

there's rehabilitation

and in some places

there's almost none.

(door closes)

William. This is the first time

that I've gotten a chance

to meet with you in...

we determined the other day,

like since January.

Like months.

Yeah, months.

Gosh, you have had

a really...

a very busy year, huh?

William:

Rough time.

It has been a rough time.

It's been a really rough time.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Man:
And you really

wanna get back

to kind of a more

normal life, huh?

Yeah. Why can't I?

Man:
Yeah.

Well, you know what?

That's a very good question.

Edie:
Yeah.

Brian:

I met William

at the age of 12.

He has a mild

intellectual disability,

and also,

in addition, a mild

autism spectrum disorder.

He's also diagnosed

with a schizoaffective disorder,

and that is the condition

where he can,

especially when really emotional

and really elevated, and...

well, we also say

dysregulated...

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