No Care, High Costs

Iain Coston

Authors Note: This piece I wrote out a few weeks ago when the Charleston Coverage was still a thing. The buzz has died, but I think publishing this is important, and can maybe help the future.

     Tears have been shed, lives have been shattered, and the dead have been buried. What is the next step? This is what America is asking in the wake of the recent tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina. Most people have an opinion when national tragedies come about, and some are louder than others. For the average American, it is hard to sift through the opinions and agendas to get to the facts. For most, it can be difficult to understand what speech is useful and what is harmful. For a U.S. citizen, it takes work to find the truth. Fortunately, we will see that there is a possible solution through analyzing the situation of recent gun tragedies, the current response of our leaders, the laws that are on the books, and finally, what it all means moving forward. 

     Leading off, let’s look to the reaction of some of the leaders in the United States.
Before the dead were buried, President Obama made a statement. Obviously, by itself, a statement isn’t bad. The leader of the free world deserves to have his say in a national tragedy. However, some of the words he used were a bit inappropriate to say on a national stage before much was known. He said “We don't have all the facts, but we do know that, once again, innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.” Now while that may be correct, and certain gun restrictions might need to be at least looked at, implying that having his version of gun control would have stopped a tragedy seems a bit hasty on the day of this event. As he admitted, no one had all the facts at the time, so there was almost no way for him to know the background of this sick individual at the time he made those statements. Dr. Keith Ablow wrote that Roof “showed all the signs of severe and worsening mental illness.” It’s not as if Roof was a master in hiding his differences either. Ablow continues, 

“When an isolated 21-year-old has a history of dropping out of high school (in the 10th grade), using drugs (reportedly including benzodiazepines and opiates), withdrawing from friends, starting to sleep in his car and beginning to tell people that he intends to start a race war and then kill himself, one can reasonably conclude that he may not be well.”

     From what we know, it’s obvious he had some issues. He’s not the only one to have issues though. Adam Lanza, the murderer in the Sandy Hook massacre, also had problems. Doctors at Yale University reportedly urged his family to get him treated. However, the New York Times wrote that their calls for him to get care “went largely unheeded” by the mother. It doesn’t stop there. Back in 2012, CBS news claimed that James Holmes, the shooter behind the Aurora Theatre killings, had visited at least three mental health professionals. All of these individuals had obvious problems. All of of these citizens were struggling with mental health. All of these young men committed massacres. None of them were helped. Why? It does nothing to help the victims of these disparaging events to point fingers if all of our current policies aren’t looked at. In the wake of the Charleston shootings, Hillary Clinton said, “We have to face hard truths about race, violence, guns and division...” While it doesn’t hurt to look at those things, it can be very harmful to only look at one scope of an issue. When context is taken out from an equation, you inevitably get the solution wrong. Looking at key legislative issues that are being ignored in the national coverage can shed some light and provide answers.

     In 2012, an employee for the Maine Department of Transportation came home after work, expecting to be greeted by his wife and son. Unfortunately, Joe Bruce came home to his wife, murdered and tossed into the bathtub. She had been murdered by their mentally ill son. While this is a shocking story, it’s not as if Joe did not see something like this in development. Him and his wife would lie awake at night listening to their adult son rant to himself. The problem wasn’t that they couldn’t do anything. It was that they wouldn’t get any help. Mr. Bruce lobbied to put state laws in place that would allow families to receive help from the state, but as he says, “The system is still a wreck...” Because there wasn’t proper legislation was not, and is not, in place, families in Maine still live in fear of their loved ones. 

     Luckily, not all states are like Maine. When looking at appropriate government laws and policies, a system that seems to work is assisted outpatient treatment, or AOT. This is where a court orders someone who is mentally ill to a temporary facility to get treatment that a family unit may not be able to provide. However, it’s not as if they keep them in a cell for the rest of their lives. A Washington Post article states, 

“Both the New York and Ohio studies found that court-ordered outpatient treatment reduced the incidence of psychiatric emergency crisis services, hospitalization, and criminal justice involvement.”

     Further on, it mentions that there were other drastic changes in the states where AOTs were implemented. These benefits included less hospitalizations in New York, in Florida there was a decrease in the length of hospital visits, and in Bexar County, TX, the number of days spent in a hospital bed dropped by 67 percent. While Maine does have AOT laws, Bruce says that they do not do enough, and still leave the families, “shut out”. This proves that having a law is one thing, but having the sense to carry it out to help families must be done as well.

     There are clearly many benefits to AOTs. Not only the fact that people who would usually end up on the streets or in jail get the help they need, but families can have the peace of mind that someone cares and can help them. Joe Bruce had great fears of his son because he and his wife were helpless. They were not aware of laws that could have helped their family. Hillary Clinton and President Obama are quick to bring attention to ignored racial issues in the United States. While they may be correct, no progress can be made unless people evaluate the whole situation. When our leaders are not able to adequately evaluate the laws on the books, and continue to cling to ideology and agendas, solutions are not achieved. As a country, we must look at all possible solutions, not just ones that align with our political beliefs. AOTs might not be the end-all answer to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook, but it is tough to deny it can be a help to the families who suffer everyday living in fear of those close to them. One can only hope that this can be the next step in healing the wounds of our nation. Hopefully this can begin the process to have less tears, fewer shattered lives, and fewer dead having to be buried.