Kali - Your piece brought tears to my eyes. I have 1st hand experience dealing with the Mental Health system in Iowa. You are 100% correct there are not nearly enough beds for adult, nor for kids. Nor for substance abuse/alcoholism. I worked actively on the low end of it when I became the Health Services Coordinator (RN) for the County and restructured and planned a new health care system when the new jail was built in Polk County. This included planning for the defacto Mental Health care that falls on jails and prisons when it doesn't occur in hospitals or mental health facilities. I was lucky enough to have a person on the Board of Supervisors that was an advocate for Mental Health Care. We hired an excellent Correctional Healthcare provider and provided for a psychiatrist, mental health practitioners and were accredited in the care we provided. However, we dealt with clients that had not received the care they needed throughout their life. They ended up in jail as a last resort as you described with Chase. We studied how to provide the very best Mental Health Care in Jail to prevent recidivism (when prisoners come back over & over again) and tried to implement what we financially could. The county has recently implemented one of the first steps we learned about in probably the most successful program in the nation, San Antonio, Tx. We learned about on a trip to study their program, probably 14 yr. + ago and that is all that has been accomplished. It hurts my heart that no more than that has been accomplished in corrections and in Des Moines, and not much more in Mental Health Care since. Though, I believe Mental Health practitioners are part of crisis intervention teams at mental health emergencies police are called notified about. I promised myself that if I ever won the lottery or had an influx of money I would design a new multidisciplinary Mental Health program in Des Moines . I still have that hope. Why? My Mom was bi-polar, my uncle was schizophrenic and there was other undiagnosed mental illness in my family and I have treated depression. I remember the memories and stories in my family, luckily not as tragic as you described. We so badly NEED advocates that put their arms around Mental Health for our troubled society. No one of us can do it alone. Thank you for sharing and your future columns, Kali. I so appreciate you.
Thank you for this heartfelt response, Linda, which brought tear to MY eyes. My relationship with Chase is only part of my motivation. Like you, I also have multiple family members and close friends with varying degrees of mental illness, and still struggling to navigate this deficient system. I appreciate you sharing your valuable insights and experiences here!
As I read this piece, I relived the tragedy I felt 5 years ago. I was a colleague and friend of Charla's. I knew of Chase's struggles and how she was trying to balance teaching and home.
I woke up that morning to see a headline about a shooting in Bondurant. I looked up the approximate address given in the news report and my heart sank. I knew it was Charla's house even though I had never been there. I recognized her van in the driveway. I texted our principal to tell her my suspicions. When I got to school, the word had spread and we knew it was true. Our lovely, kind, and beautiful friend was gone, along with Mark and Tawni. At that time, Chase had not yet been located and all of us felt very uneasy about that, knowing Charla torn between fulfilling her obligations at school and home and we feared Chase would retaliate at the school.
Just a couple of days before the incident, Charla was in my classroom after school. She was upset because she knew Chase needed more help than she could give him while teaching. She knew he would be 21 soon and was worried he would turn to alcohol. She was strongly considering taking early retirement so she could focus on Chase and his needs. She decided to turn in her paperwork in time for the April 15th teaching contract deadline. Charla thought by retiring early she could be sure Chase took his meds, got to appts, and got the help he needed.
Their deaths were such a tragic ending to a beautiful family.
Thank you for writing about this and thank you for being Chase's friend.
Jane, thank you so much for this heartfelt message. I had heard she'd been considering early retirement to focus more on Chase and his needs, but wasn't surprised because she was always so kind and clearly devoted to her family. (And truly, Tawni was one the sweetest souls I've ever met.) I'm so sorry for you and Charla's fellow teachers, and for the shock and heartbreak you all must have experienced.
My older middle brother was a schizophrenic and lived most of his adult life in hospitals and group homes and halfway homes. He was never able to be a functioning member of society. His voices told him to run away, to harm me his baby sister as in strangling me. When he was telling this to the family doctor, he was totally unaware that he was going through the motions of strangling me as he spoke. He was a poor tortured soul. Schizophrenia is still so very misunderstood and misdiagnosed and undiagnosed. I applaud your bringing it to the public eye.
thanks Kali. I lost one of my best friends to suicide in 1991. He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It was his third attempt. I found him unconscious after the second one, and his mom and I got him to the ER. He had been treated and was on medication, but I always questioned the wisdom of placing someone who's had two previous suicide attempts on the ninth floor of an apartment building. We had been friends since grade-school band. Just a really brilliant, talented guy. I think about him a lot and visit his grave every year. I don't talk a lot about it but I have shared it at visitations when someone has lost a family member the same way. I don't know the answer, but I do know folks should not be ridiculed for theirs or their loved ones' suffering or for seeking help. Or made to feel they're "weirdos" or alone. We all get knocked around in life, all need help at different times and we all need to be good to one another.
When my buddy and I were in drum corps we used to sing the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" together as a corps before competitions. That would be a pretty good anthem for the mental health movement.
Thank you for sharing this heartfelt message Pat, and I so agree. It's critical to make mental health and healthcare standard conversation and practice. And what a beautiful song title and yes, anthem! Glad to connect with you here.
This is so moving and so tragic. And God bless you for thinking like a mom befriending Chase.
Glad you’re part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Kali! Welcome!
Thank you so much, Wini! Glad to be here!
Kali - Your piece brought tears to my eyes. I have 1st hand experience dealing with the Mental Health system in Iowa. You are 100% correct there are not nearly enough beds for adult, nor for kids. Nor for substance abuse/alcoholism. I worked actively on the low end of it when I became the Health Services Coordinator (RN) for the County and restructured and planned a new health care system when the new jail was built in Polk County. This included planning for the defacto Mental Health care that falls on jails and prisons when it doesn't occur in hospitals or mental health facilities. I was lucky enough to have a person on the Board of Supervisors that was an advocate for Mental Health Care. We hired an excellent Correctional Healthcare provider and provided for a psychiatrist, mental health practitioners and were accredited in the care we provided. However, we dealt with clients that had not received the care they needed throughout their life. They ended up in jail as a last resort as you described with Chase. We studied how to provide the very best Mental Health Care in Jail to prevent recidivism (when prisoners come back over & over again) and tried to implement what we financially could. The county has recently implemented one of the first steps we learned about in probably the most successful program in the nation, San Antonio, Tx. We learned about on a trip to study their program, probably 14 yr. + ago and that is all that has been accomplished. It hurts my heart that no more than that has been accomplished in corrections and in Des Moines, and not much more in Mental Health Care since. Though, I believe Mental Health practitioners are part of crisis intervention teams at mental health emergencies police are called notified about. I promised myself that if I ever won the lottery or had an influx of money I would design a new multidisciplinary Mental Health program in Des Moines . I still have that hope. Why? My Mom was bi-polar, my uncle was schizophrenic and there was other undiagnosed mental illness in my family and I have treated depression. I remember the memories and stories in my family, luckily not as tragic as you described. We so badly NEED advocates that put their arms around Mental Health for our troubled society. No one of us can do it alone. Thank you for sharing and your future columns, Kali. I so appreciate you.
Thank you for this heartfelt response, Linda, which brought tear to MY eyes. My relationship with Chase is only part of my motivation. Like you, I also have multiple family members and close friends with varying degrees of mental illness, and still struggling to navigate this deficient system. I appreciate you sharing your valuable insights and experiences here!
As I read this piece, I relived the tragedy I felt 5 years ago. I was a colleague and friend of Charla's. I knew of Chase's struggles and how she was trying to balance teaching and home.
I woke up that morning to see a headline about a shooting in Bondurant. I looked up the approximate address given in the news report and my heart sank. I knew it was Charla's house even though I had never been there. I recognized her van in the driveway. I texted our principal to tell her my suspicions. When I got to school, the word had spread and we knew it was true. Our lovely, kind, and beautiful friend was gone, along with Mark and Tawni. At that time, Chase had not yet been located and all of us felt very uneasy about that, knowing Charla torn between fulfilling her obligations at school and home and we feared Chase would retaliate at the school.
Just a couple of days before the incident, Charla was in my classroom after school. She was upset because she knew Chase needed more help than she could give him while teaching. She knew he would be 21 soon and was worried he would turn to alcohol. She was strongly considering taking early retirement so she could focus on Chase and his needs. She decided to turn in her paperwork in time for the April 15th teaching contract deadline. Charla thought by retiring early she could be sure Chase took his meds, got to appts, and got the help he needed.
Their deaths were such a tragic ending to a beautiful family.
Thank you for writing about this and thank you for being Chase's friend.
Jane, thank you so much for this heartfelt message. I had heard she'd been considering early retirement to focus more on Chase and his needs, but wasn't surprised because she was always so kind and clearly devoted to her family. (And truly, Tawni was one the sweetest souls I've ever met.) I'm so sorry for you and Charla's fellow teachers, and for the shock and heartbreak you all must have experienced.
My older middle brother was a schizophrenic and lived most of his adult life in hospitals and group homes and halfway homes. He was never able to be a functioning member of society. His voices told him to run away, to harm me his baby sister as in strangling me. When he was telling this to the family doctor, he was totally unaware that he was going through the motions of strangling me as he spoke. He was a poor tortured soul. Schizophrenia is still so very misunderstood and misdiagnosed and undiagnosed. I applaud your bringing it to the public eye.
Thank you for sharing this here, Loretta. I think of families like yours constantly.
thanks Kali. I lost one of my best friends to suicide in 1991. He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It was his third attempt. I found him unconscious after the second one, and his mom and I got him to the ER. He had been treated and was on medication, but I always questioned the wisdom of placing someone who's had two previous suicide attempts on the ninth floor of an apartment building. We had been friends since grade-school band. Just a really brilliant, talented guy. I think about him a lot and visit his grave every year. I don't talk a lot about it but I have shared it at visitations when someone has lost a family member the same way. I don't know the answer, but I do know folks should not be ridiculed for theirs or their loved ones' suffering or for seeking help. Or made to feel they're "weirdos" or alone. We all get knocked around in life, all need help at different times and we all need to be good to one another.
When my buddy and I were in drum corps we used to sing the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" together as a corps before competitions. That would be a pretty good anthem for the mental health movement.
Thank you for sharing this heartfelt message Pat, and I so agree. It's critical to make mental health and healthcare standard conversation and practice. And what a beautiful song title and yes, anthem! Glad to connect with you here.