Fractured (full documentary) | FRONTLINE +

FRONTLINE, WFAE & Firelight Media investigate the long waits for mental health care that defendants who are deemed too sick to stand trial face in North Carolina.
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From FRONTLINE (PBS)’s Local Journalism Initiative, the Charlotte, North Carolina, NPR station @WFAENews and @FirelightMediaNYC, “Fractured” examines how the country’s mental health crisis is playing out within the criminal justice system in North Carolina, a state where it’s been harder to access mental health care than in most others.
"We've found that these defendants may wait months in jail, sometimes more than a year, for the treatment they need to be deemed well enough to go to court," says “Fractured” correspondent, writer and producer Dana Miller Ervin. “In some cases, these defendants can get sicker while they wait for admission to a state hospital.”
Ervin has been investigating access to mental health care in North Carolina for WFAE for the past two years with the support of FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative. The initiative is an innovative effort to support and strengthen investigative reporting in communities around the country. It launched in 2019 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Building on an in-depth radio and digital series, which was released in 2023 by WFAE and FRONTLINE and was recently named a semi-finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, “Fractured” is directed by Débora Souza Silva, a 2023 recipient of the FRONTLINE/Firelight Media Investigative Journalism Fellowship. The fellowship was created to support independent filmmakers of color interested in journalistic documentary filmmaking about underreported issues in the United States.
WFAE will host a screening of “Fractured” on Mar. 12, at 7 p.m. EST, at the Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City. A conversation with some of the participants from the film will follow the screening. Information is available at www.wfae.org/fracturedtickets
Explore additional reporting related to "Fractured" here:
www.wfae.org/fractured
www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/to...
“Fractured” is a FRONTLINE production with Dandara Productions LLC in association with Firelight Media and WFAE. The director is Débora Souza Silva. The writers are Débora Souza Silva & Dana Miller Ervin. The producers are Loi Ameera Almeron, Débora Souza Silva and Dana Miller Ervin. The correspondent is Dana Miller Ervin. The co-producer and editor is Nelson Ryland. The senior producers are Nina Chaudry, Carla Borrás and Monika Navarro. The senior editors are Erin Texeira and Amy Rubin. The executive producers of Firelight Media are Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
#Documentary #MentalHealth #NorthCarolina #CriminalJustice
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FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Funding for FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative is funded with support from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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“Fractured” director Débora Souza Silva, WFAE reporter Dana Miller Ervin and FRONTLINE executive producer and editor-in-chief Raney Aronson-Rath discussed the making of the film and how long waits for care affect defendants as well as others in the criminal justice system on the latest episode of FRONTLINE’s podcast series, The FRONTLINE Dispatch. LISTEN: www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/podcast/dispatch/stuck-in-a-fractured-system/

[@ComingStorm2011]

I do a program here in Gaston County called Silent Witness. Can I share this video and your information on the drop box on my page? Create a Ytube video with this information. Mental health in Gaston County is really bad and there is little help as this video has pointed out. Thank You, Robert

[@ComingStorm2011]

I have a few interviews with these symptoms if you are interested . Michael and Cheri D. Are two people who come to mind to make your search through my playlist easier to find.

[@nunyabznz]

Prison is NOT the place for mental illness!!! As a psychiatric nurse, I speak from great experience. FIX THE SYSTEM!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

[@mchambers4376]

Prison is the right place to fake mental illness to try and get transferred to lower security.

[@airodriguez2007]

I have to agree with you. Our government hasn’t done enough to invest in mental health because it has really gotten out of hand, and family members need to know the warning signs and not be in denial because believe me when I say you’re not doing them and favors by slipping it under the rug. I know it’s scary but if you love your family member than you will do whatever has to be done and get them the appropriate help.

[@lewis1341]

Maybe don't commit crimes and you won't be put in a prison. They deserve to be there, sorry

[@jeffbohen4301]

Maybe understand something - anything about actual SPMI before spewing uninformed baseless bullshit? @@lewis1341

[@birdsndog5819]

Psych MD to second your opinion. So much ignorance in the comments here. And the patient’s lawyer is in error. The correctional facility is legally NOT ALLOWED to give any inmate medications against their will. It would be against his rights. You don’t lose those in corrections. Minus a court order for involuntary medications, nobody can force you to take medications. No matter where you are. This is extremely expensive. It could not be more expensive. Outpatient mental health teams, treating the mentally ill where they are, is considerably less expensive. It also makes your community safer - and more pleasant. If you think you aren’t paying for this, guess again. Federal, state and local taxes fund corrections. The federal government offers Medicaid funding; but these need to be funded in kind by the states. That version though, is considerably less expensive than having folks in corrections indefinitely.

[@JadeIDgenX]

We need to bring back long term mental health care and do it properly.

[@tannywilliams9017]

I totally agree! We need humane mentally health facilities.

[@almoen5412]

Especially since money is just made up they can print money just for mental health services sound like they have to go out and find the fucking gold...

[@John-86]

50 billion to Ukraine but not enough money to help Americans. FJB

[@airodriguez2007]

We need to start with our veterans especially when they come back from deployment. The things they see while they’re out in the field is beyond words. Our government isn’t doing enough to address this issue that’s why we are seeing, hearing and watching too much of school, church and work violence. Enough is enough already. And parents have/need be be aware of what their child does and hangs around with. I know that you have to work but your first priority is your child. Most of the time you can sense something is off through your child’s body language. I recently read the book that Dylan Klebold’s (one of the Columbine HS shooters) mom wrote and she mentioned in one of the chapters that both her and her husband missed the warning signs. That’s why it so damn important that we pay attention to what they are doing at all times.

[@KrisCorby-iv8dg]

No, first you have to change legislation! You cannot force anyone into care,who doesn't want to go!..🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Franaflyby]

As a mother, I'm struggling to get my 31-year-old mentally ill son with a meth addiction into a facility. I've gone off to rescue him several times for the last 14 years with no success. I've chased him all last summer from Utah to Nevada, California, Oregon, and Seattle with no luck. He's now incarcerated at a Kentucky jail. It's too far for me to help him. I've pleaded with the jail to get him help, but they just let him stay till his time is served, just to let him out to the same cycle. I'm exhausted and have decided to give it over to God. I feel like a failure as a mother. Please pray for my son to get help. 💔

[@rebekahcuriel-alessi2239]

Yes ma'am. 🙏 And for you too dearest. 🙏

[@hchattaway]

God isn't the answer.. if it was it wouldn't have happened to begin with. Every one is an individual that lives a life regardless of who their parents are. All walks of life, from every income level can have this same problem.. it has nothing to do with you. All you can do is to keep trying to get help... both for you and your son. No one should have to deal with the kind of guilt you are feeling.. it is misplaced. If everyone on KZbin prayed it wouldn't make any difference. Responsibility comes from within.

[@Franaflyby]

@hchattaway I agree with most of what you said. However I do believe in prayer. If KZbin prayed abs petition God it may or may not help. It's all up to God.

[@marklandwehr7604]

I turned my family's building into a drug rehab connection. This is the dowity building at 808 Scott street in Covington. Kentucky They helped 9000 women in the first 6 months of 2005 They projected between ten and eleven thousand every six months from there on out I pray for your son. That's why I did this The system has a habit of catch in release and then they become your son's accomplice They enjoy incarcerating and punishing but they take no responsibility in seeing that they recover That would mean they wouldn't have the return business

[@bethroesch2156]

You are not a failure. Not by a long shot. I know what it's like because I've been exactly where you're at. It's hard but don't give up hope. As long as he's alive there's a chance. I'm still praying for my own and I'll pray for all of our lost children 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@saladsalad9991]

Yikes... imagine losing your mind, getting thrown in jail, the judge says you're unfit to go to trial, the hospital says "no vacancy," then the judge sends you back into jail and thats your life for years on end. That's not due process, it ought to be criminal to treat people like this.

[@michaelsmith-xz9mv]

sad truth

[@user-co7fb6qe5w]

Joe Biden

[@williamwilson6499]

I guess you missed where he refuses to take medication.

[@williamosei8637]

🎉

[@lalalaube]

@@williamwilson6499I guess you missed where refusal to stay on meds is a hallmark symptom of many mental illnesses, his refusal only cements the fact that he necessitates medical intervention, not jail.

[@kevinderr440]

Journalism. Frontline does it. Thank you, Frontline.

[@rickoom3081]

It's a far left liberal machine.

[@tarstarkusz]

No, they are just as bad as every other outfit. What you are getting here is sometimes called "public relations"

[@DetectiveTrupo203]

​@@tarstarkusz sorry facts trigger you

[@tarstarkusz]

@@DetectiveTrupo203 This show is pure propaganda.

[@DetectiveTrupo203]

@@tarstarkusz sorry you exclusively believe conspiracy theories

[@DianaSwi]

All over the US we need to fix our system

[@michaelsmith-xz9mv]

they don't care about us

[@lisae6725]

Well…the Republicans were working on crafting a bill for public urination and then they plan on tackling drag queens and Mrs. Potato head in between their conferences of taking away women’s reproductive healthcare and Antifa. They apparently don’t see any real problems that need to be addressed in America by the people who live here.

[@OsirisIxchel]

It's a world wide problem.. = /

[@Barkskin_Hathaway]

One side just doesn't want to pay for it.

[@mrsweetpotato4354]

And what do you recommend for the fix

[@itismeIamher]

Imagine how scary it is to hear a voice talking to you when no one is in the room. I work with kids with mental illness and the things they say that they hear in their heads is terrifying.

[@godzillafinalwars2000-gaming]

This is military technology. The same thing we're being done to Myron May.... They're doing this to me and my son right now...John O'Neil tried warning them about this. This is all a fraud. Hospital fraud government fraud

[@lisadawnrussell]

How to tell if they are making it up?

[@VestalNumbre]

16 All Scripture is inspired of God+ and beneficial for teaching,+ for reproving, for setting things straight,+ for disciplining in righteousness,+ 17

[@djkreature]

The voices are real. They are demons that terrorize these people. They aren't mentally ill they are under attack from demons

[@blackdiamond306]

This is not mental illness this is governmental experimentation does transmitted through brain neuron satellite connection this research doctors and wellness law enforcement worldwide knows that this it's being used and deliberately being diagnosed Mass targeting targeted individuals or gang stalking and many other varieties of cyber torture to the physical body right in the midst of your privacy of your home and family without a Trace .

[@Dovelunalove]

This happened to me at 23 in my last year of Med school. While studying I started to hear animal voices coming from my textbooks. I was terrified. I took all my books outside & made my mom listen. She got mad at me which I expected. It lasted 8months. Once I graduated it stopped. I think it was the stress of Med school,caffeine pills,lack of sleep. I’m now 25 & haven’t heard voices since.

[@-fuk57]

I've been there only with meth. It was scary to know that I was talking with someone that wasn't there but at the same time still responding to those voices.

[@kenlangley3486]

@@-fuk57 Right! Sometimes the only person that'll listen to us is us

[@Dovelunalove]

@@-fuk57 wow. I’m very glad you’re no longer in that place!

[@laughtergang246]

It is the lack of sleep. I don't have any mental struggles but one thing that has made feel sympathy for how fragile sanity is how trippy the mind gets just from not sleeping for 24+ hours.

[@Dovelunalove]

@@laughtergang246 you’re right! I slept only every 48hrs. After each sleep I’d have faint memory of the previous day, so I had to write a summary of the day prior to sleeping. Sleep will definitely impact ur sanity,memory etc.

[@breathnstop]

Its a well known fact schizophrenia gets worse without medicine. The subject of this film reminds me of a patient I had as a psych nurse who has gone down hill and its heart breaking. They suffer so much. They really dont want to hurt anyone but they are paranoid.

[@roxyt5549]

Thank you Frontline PBS. Your thorough, real, and very much necessary reporting IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. Thank you so much

[@ShaninOhio-uu2ms]

I worked for many years at an in-patient facility where educated professionals and well trained staff provided excellent care to our residents. The facility was closed 5 years ago due to budget cuts. Mental health treatment isn't prioritized because it isn't profitable. It can also be difficult to attract quality staff to work in the mental health field because it can be stressful and dangerous.

[@Inquisitor2024]

How sad 😢

[@lisaindahouse1304]

The definition of insanity is expecting a schizophrenic to take his medication...

[@burgi6236]

what a dark place the US actually is. i cannot comprehend this lack of help in your country. greetings from germany. our people get psychiatrists and meds, free. very sad to see this health care system of yours.

[@mattmcmahon8311]

Thank you 🙏. You’re right and people are so broken they have given up.

[@Hatewontwin]

Yep, cant even get proper medical care in this country, unless you're RICH!..👎🇺🇸

[@SilverbackPolarBear]

Sad we send our tax dollars all over the world while our citizens suffer. Should be more like Germany and keep it for ourselves!

[@213kilacali]

Forget healthcare, we need to send more money to Ukraine and Israel!

[@burgi6236]

@@SilverbackPolarBear we keep it for ourselfs? No, we have a better insurance System that is it. I recommend the Video of an American Family, living in germany, comparing the Systems. Search "type ashton healthcare" you might learn something :)

[@marilynh5487]

I'm an Army Trained Nurse LPN 💜 and the mental health situation broke 💔 me down. While working in Saint Lucie Detention Center in Florida, I quit. I consider myself pretty tough but also compassionate. The Mental Illness got the best of me.

[@MsRotorwings]

How so? Was mental health care nonexistent? Sadly there is s shortage of mental health Counselors available.

[@lisae6725]

The greed in America is the reason for suffering. These jails are for profit which in itself is problematic because they only are there to make money at the expense of human rights and basic human decency.

[@solarwind907]

I get it. I would not last two weeks. Thank you for your service!

[@SHEEPSUK]

@mari.. you were victimized by the system in which you were involved. You should be grateful you left. It just means they couldn't completely indoctrinate you. You were actually stronger than the ones who stayed.

[@megaauburnfan21]

@@lisae6725 Quit spouting your bullshit. Less than 8% of prisoners are held in “for profit” prisons. Ever thought about not committing a crime, which guess what, keeps you out of prison???

[@tedadams1324]

How incredibly sad. Many of these patients could be loving, productive, and effective members of society but for their mental illnesses.

[@augustwest5771]

I live in Massachusetts, and they have shut down 2 psychiatric hospitals and 2 detox hospitals last year! There's a huge drug problem in the area, now people have nowhere to go for either issue! They say they're getting all this money for these issues while simultaneously closing the places the people desperately need!

[@TheMomseloc]

I work in correctional health and mental health care has been pathetic. We don't have adequate staffing or tools. Mental health placement and Addiction help are improving, just not fast enough to keep up. WE NEED STAFF BUT HARDLY ANY ONE WANTS TO WORK IN THIS FIELD. You want it better? Then start signing up for it.

[@kathleenroberts6931]

Pay Mental Health Professionals a living wage, & a lighter case load.

[@lalalaube]

@@kathleenroberts6931I wholehearted support this idea, but sadly it’s a field with incredibly high turnover rates bc it’s so incredibly mentally taxing on the providers/carers. At some point it’s better for them to leave the field than risk longterm damage to their own mental health😕

[@Mikkel-Hansen]

No, just prioritize it with funding to provide better wages. This will attract employees. It is all a matter of priority. Nothing to do with the nature of the job or individuals signing up for it.

[@TheMomseloc]

@@Mikkel-Hansen Actually the pay and benefits are very, very good and do attract a lot of applicants. But, most don't stay because this isn't a modality for "paycheck" driven healthcare professionals. It can literally steal a piece of your soul daily.

[@TheMomseloc]

@@Mikkel-Hansen But hey. Thanks for your "supportive" comment on how to remedy a situation you obviously have no experience in.

[@jeremiahwhan]

As someone who's served over 8 years in the community corrections field. Is a veteran. And a dedicated, lifelong Independent. Lemme say. This shit is difficult to watch. But I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved, in sharing it. It's never easy to confront truth. But that's exactly why sharing truth, is so important. Thanks for your service.

[@user-mr4ro3ou9i]

Well done! This is the single largest aspect of the absence of mental health care facing the United States.

[@snickerson3558]

Just imagine how many people in every city that is locked up then let out again with no mental health treatment when its plain to see how badly they need it!

[@gwcs1218]

It's sad that so many who see the issue first hand try to help so much and their hands are still tied. I'm glad Frontline is raising awareness on this issue.

[@ikelove8775]

I was a corrections officer for 3 yrs man...The mentally ill do not belong inside...Some of them have no clue of what's happening man...Sad...Sad deal

[@sarahs.9292]

We have been through this mess with our kid in NC. I am appalled at how hard it is to get mental health in Charlotte, NC area. Even for the middle class and with good support systems.

[@gutsfinky]

It's not a Charlotte thing. It's an all over America thing.

[@tomsummer5336]

There is a huge gap for mental health patients where I live in the New Zealand and it’s heartbreaking for these people

[@judetchua]

The longer they stay in jail, their mental health is getting worse. Imagine having no one to talk tom inside a small room. Sad. I think most of these guys would recover if only they have all the support they need.

[@knotical689]

We need universal healthcare in this country. Not only does this crisis hurt the people suffering mental illnesses and their families, but also their communities. Get them in single payer treatment, shrink the prisons

[@jasong428]

That will result in more executions and less care.

[@gregbors8364]

@@jasong428”universal healthcare = more executions,” whaaat? 🤷‍♂️

[@Yosef9438]

It will never happen. The country will fall apart first. The system chosen to run this country isn't capable of it. We are simply getting what we deserve at this point, anyway. Founded on wiping out natives and enslavement of others.

[@gutsfinky]

That wouldn't fix the problem of this guy not taking his meds, would it?

[@kenrickbaughman992]

Oh it's definitely an fractured system. Fractured all over the place. Thanks again Frontline

[@alicassidy8913]

Please give these people the real help they need... As an American citizen, they deserve it...

[@Warpath37x1]

I sat in jail 39 days in Mississippi on no charges for being suicidal before I was transferred to a hospital.

[@SHEEPSUK]

Lawsuit

[@Warpath37x1]

@@SHEEPSUK brother I wish I could on a state with such a powerful judicial system.. Mississippi isn't known for much but it is known for a judicial system that reigns with an iron fist.

[@englishmenintown8622]

​@@Warpath37x1that's hectic!!!! I am shocked!! As a South African hearing this surprised me. I would imagine first world countries would be run better. Lastly and most importantly.......don't end your life please. I tried and was probably 5 minutes away from death and got saved. There is no changing your mind once it's done. I am sincerely hoping you get some help and feel better about life.

[@Warpath37x1]

@@englishmenintown8622 Mississippi the state I was in put me in jail on a medical hold. I was in a hospital emergency room after trying to commit suicide. The sheriff's department showed up to the hospital and took me to jail because they said I was a danger to myself and/or others and that I'd would have to stay in jail until space opened up for me somewhere for treatment. I lived in a open pod with other inmates and had to serve time just like a inmate except I wasn't charged with any crime. But thank you for your kind words. God be with you.

[@yvonnefarrell1029]

William Seward (he of purchasing Alaska "Seward's Folly"), before he was in the Lincoln administration, worked in upstate NY (can't remember which town) and among other persons, he defended a mentally-ill man who had committed some terrible crimes, saying he was ill and had been beat up and so forth so had disabilities. Seward caught heck from the community, but he was ahead of his time. On the other hand, protecting the community from those who might be unsafe is also paramount. Thanks for this documentary.

[@karibennett5847]

We need to build brand new mental health state psych hospitals all over the US period!!! Imagine money saved in the long run but our country is a mess and our own government is fragile atm...

[@ogadlogadl490]

We Rome, we gonna fall…the system to too big and out of control to be fixed.

[@SHEEPSUK]

​@@ogadlogadl490set up to fall on purpose to usher in the new world order.

[@dolcemaddalena]

They don't have psychiatric prisons in the States? I worked at a psych prison in Montreal. It is a prison specifically for those who commit crimes and have psychiatric disorders. We have our issues here in Canada too despite having national health care. We have a huge shortage of psychiatrists and wait times are up to two years with the general population. In the psych prisons the inmates do very well. The problem is when they go home and reoffend again. I think there needs to be group homes. They would be housed ensure they are medicated and looked after. The problem is they go home and are lost. They stop taking meds, no follow up care and within two weeks most are back again! The States issue is people without health insurance. What a sad state of affairs for both nations struggling with the same problem.

[@dshevick]

Keep in contact with him. Write him sort letters telling him how you think of him all of the time, that you know this addiction which lives inside him is not who he really is. Keep telling him you love him and are even proud of him how he is still alive. It's important to seperate the addict inside from the person.

[@lisae6725]

We’re always criticizing other nations when our own people are suffering immensely. I feel so terribly for these people. Something has to change in this country or we’re just going to keep deteriorating.

[@whitney9810]

It's obvious that the government has a mental illness problem. Think about it, why do they think it's okay to go to other countries and kill people?

[@Dr_1212]

Frontline 👍

[@jasong428]

The world of 80 years ago handled this far better than now.

[@johnmollozzi1317]

We were in much better shape until Reagan. When I was a kid u might've seen someone bugging out in the street once in a while, it was like a big deal. Here in 2024 I see it 2 or 3 times a week, ppl walk right passed them

[@MJanovicable]

Not necessarily considering the conditions in the asylums, but what's the alternative? What we have now, which is unacceptable.

[@nosonoliento]

@@johnmollozzi1317 It was handled better better in the past but it wasn't just Reagan. It actually started with Kennedy's Community Mental Health Act of 1963. The road to hell...

[@rickgpz1209]

@@johnmollozzi1317 if you actually absorbed anything in this video, you would have seen that it was JFK in 1963 that signed a law which closed many of those mental hospitals. Reagan had nothing to do with the misguided start of this issue.

[@johnmollozzi1317]

@@rickgpz1209 couldn't watch it..seen it in real life

[@deniseodum4637]

As a correctional nurse in a county jail it is a desperate situation that we need more mental health beds for these people as this is not the setting for them.

[@CamJames]

concise, direct, thorough. great work as always.

[@guesswhat-chickenbutt]

I was in jail in Durham and a little bitty lady came in and i think her charge was something like drunk in public or possibly DUI, anyways when she came in she was semi normal and within a day or two she started having manic episodes and would literally stay up all night talking, buzzing the intercom, yelling, just nonsense. The guards got fed up and went into her cell and beat her black and blue. It was awful!!!!

[@matthew-jy5jp]

Thank you frontline. I hope these people can get help. Its not right putting them them in prison

[@TBrl8]

If you had been the victim of a violent assault, from a mentally unwell person, you might feel differently. Mentally unwell people are not the only Americans not subjected to the criminal justice system, we all are subjected to it.

[@DaMeng3000]

They don’t belong amongst good people.

[@MartyHarrison-cx4gu]

So just let them out in society to harm people ? Even if they get help it might takes years to have an affect . People like you never think about logical consequences . Just want makes you feel good about doing

[@lalalaube]

@@TBrl8although this is true, if you’re a victim of someone with severe mental illness, you hate the actions- not the sick offender. The American prison system is just as backwards as our nonexistent mental healthcare system. If these offenders receive proper care, many can go on to lead successful lives as law abiding citizens. Putting them in jail is a bandaid on a gunshot wound. It does nothing for an offender who can’t mentally understand why they’re in prison, much less why they offended in the first place.

[@megaauburnfan21]

@@lalalaube If the institutions are full, it’s prison or the streets. You pick. I would hope it’s common sense to pick the former.

[@001sander2]

This makes economic sense as well because it's far less expensive to treat mental health than it is to let it go unchecked and pay for the consequences like higher crime rates

[@m.cherylthompson2985]

Sadly, the longer the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) goes on, the harder it is to experience recovery. Many people don't know they are experiencing psychosis. It is part of the disorder - anosognosia - the patient is unaware of the disabling conditions. We should be rushing to get treatment to patients as soon as possible, not let them linger in jail waiting for a "bed". I would have liked for DUP and anosognosia be addressed in more detail in this documentary. However, I'm thankful mental health issues in jails and prisons are being discussed.

[@user-dj8mg3et2g]

It's disheartening how we're this beacon of hope, but our institutions so dismally fail the hopeless.

[@houdiniwho]

The community group homes were there, but years of not being funded; they closed, leaving those most vulnerable unhoused.

[@rebeccao8895]

Catch-22 in mental health care and justice system. We need more state mental health facilities and new legislation.

[@jonloftness5210]

Everyone thinks the large, muscle-bound inmates are the ones to be afraid of in prison, but the small, crazy inmates are far more dangerous. In my 31 year career in corrections, the most dangerous convicts are the ones no one else would be concerned about.

[@GM-jv9jz]

Yep...I used to work in a state group home....it was the quiet ones that concerned me the most.

[@humanebeing6230]

Thank you, Dana Ervin. Your work is invaluable.

[@glenn6583]

Being in solitary is very bad for anyone’s mental health! That’s ‘corrections’ for you!

[@shawnastephens1536]

If he doesn't want to take meds how is he gonna get better even in a mental hospital?

[@lalalaube]

⁠@@mellendiamondmental institutions for offenders don’t give them options on whether or not to stay on their medication regimen. Mental illnesses are incredibly complex & constantly changing due to different factors- he could be seemingly lucid one day acknowledging his illness & in a state of paranoia & mania the next. Meds are a trigger for many mental illness patients, they start believing their meds are hurting them or they’re being controlled so they discontinue them.

[@shawnastephens1536]

@@mellendiamond who are u getting a a attitude with?

[@MyFavoriteColorIsBLUE]

​@shawnastephens1536 who are YOU getting an attitude with? She didn't say anything wrong

[@shawnastephens1536]

@@MyFavoriteColorIsBLUE she has the bedside manner of a wet mop. She had a attitude.

[@mellendiamond]

@MyFavoriteColorIsBLUE Can't even make a comment anymore without someone getting their feelings hurt over it. I deleted my comment, and confirms my notion to never comment again.

[@charles560]

This is the most accurate reality concerning mental health in our country. The government has all these laws and regulations with so many contradictions and restrictions that completely fail our society. I wish and long for the day when there will be a class action suit against the government to force their accountability as they enforce ours.

[@catsario7512]

Wonder what the judge would say if it was his son….

[@valeriecr5457]

Lost me at "soliciting a minor online'

[@becs1comm607]

Tragic story - great reporting

[@peterlafayette5595]

Sicking. I Feel physically sick watching this.

[@DeathDeclined]

This is sad and America needs a ton of changes in the way the court system works with this type of situation. Since the 70s America changed to this "Get Tuff" type of prison system where they just throw people away and lock them up 23 hours a day inside a 6x9 and it's just not the way... yeah I agree there are certain groups and people that are extremely dangerous and need this type of segregation but they don't evaluate inmates properly they just process them and let the system run its course it's just unfair and inhumane

[@tracywatts1459]

The Exact same thing happened in Canada. As the mentally I’ll were phased out of institutions. The comunity integration never happened it fell through. Very Sad. They account for many of our homeless.

[@georgegeysen6499]

Prisons have been our psychiatric hospital "back wards" since the 90's, ever since so many psychiatric hospitals were deinstitutionalized in the '80's. A complex societal, human ethical dilemma, since we are all "doing time." Many sentences in their 30's and 40's to a lifetime "bid" are now dementing, there is little to no Alzheimer's based care, hospice or many things that most of us in "normal" society" can access.

[@rickgpz1209]

Right there in this report, it mentions JFK signing a law to get rid of those large mental hospitals. Deinstitutionalizing of the mentally ill did NOT start in the 1980s.

[@terrichytrowski1555]

So wrong what we are doing to our most vulnerable people. Thank you to these talented filmmakers for exposing a broken and cruel system.

[@stephaniechambell1493]

I do not understand giving money to other countries before taking care of our own citizens first. Mental health and drug issues plague our homeless also.

[@vincegiambattista6022]

I feel for the dude 100% but the thought of him being released from jail doesn't sit well

[@BearKat9]

It's ashamed that the Medicaid expansion wasn't implemented sooner. This came out with Obamacare yet many red states wouldn't expand the care. The wealthiest country in the world can't take care of the most vulnerable is shameful.

[@T.GLongstaff]

Expanded Medicaid saved me from massive medical debt in New York. I wasn’t working and I was dealing with a lot of bad things at the time and I got an infection in my arm. The hospital asked me if I had insurance I told them no and they signed me up for expanded Medicaid. If I didn’t have it I would’ve been saddled with crippling medical debt

[@Nothing123Battle]

Who is gonna pay that extra stuff? I don't wanna pay it. Are you gonna? This isn't a red or blue state issue. This is an issue about who is gonna pay it and prove the money actually improved the community.

[@mikeappleget482]

@@Nothing123BattleThis is the most Christian thing I’ve read all week.

[@barrybarnes96]

@@Nothing123Battle You will pay more by not providing a social safety net, one that includes mental health services...way more. The lack of a social safety net will cost the state multiple times the amount in the long run. Take a look at Canada that provides at least a half decent social safety net. You don't have anywhere near the same amount of mentally ill people roaming the streets committing all kinds of crimes that have to be borne by victims then dealt with by cops, the judicial system, the prison system all of which are very costly that you are paying for. Same thing for addiction services and many other social ills.

[@Nothing123Battle]

@@barrybarnes96 Social safety nets cost is minimal for the homeless since they lack property and assets that can be seized by health insurance companies. If you persue medical bankruptcy your health insurance goes to Medicare or medicad which automatically persue medical clearance by the hospital. This is significantly different from a full recovery which is what health insurances persue for you best interest (its the reason why US medical tourism exists) Your life must be in immanent danger to be given significant state funding to an individual. The only people who receive significant social net benefits on a large scale are hemodialsis inmates. The amount of paperwork you have to sign is as bad as section 8 housing. Also Obamacare is still a hotly debated issue even in the blue state that I live in. Democrats are divided that it doesn't do enough and that it's enough while Republicans are universal on opposition of it. The problem is that Republicans think they can relocate it to insurance companies and Democrats aren't unified on the problem. So the question devolves to now that we secured the funds how do we spend it the best?

[@aussiegardener1773]

I worked in mental health in Australia, recently reired, It is a thankless task and we fight every cent ..... it is all about money. We don't get any money to actually support the clients. It is a hard job and if you care you get burnt out pretty quickly.

[@adquinta]

The unfortunate reality is in America right now, county jails are the largest mental health facilities. There are not enough beds in state mental hospitals. Citizens need to pressure their legislators to build new mental facilities. Those cost money and if crazy folks are in county jails they are out of sight out of mind. Sad state of affairs.

[@GT47179]

Absolutely horrible 😢

[@tobyihli9470]

Dillon can’t be just, “Let out!” He’s gotta take his medication. He’ll be right back in jail, shortly. He hears voices that tell him very dilutional things. He needs a hospital, but until he can go, he’s gotta stay put for his and everybody else’s safety. If he goes to the hospital, and they force him to take his meds, he’ll get better. Then, he’ll leave the hospital, and then he’ll stop taking them. We need real doctors to visit the jails and convince people like him of how badly they need the medication.

[@kristinemunholland8980]

Heartbreaking. We should be ashamed as a nation.

[@user-bw1wf1iu4t]

Thank you!.

[@SergioAndrade77]

Thank Reagan for this

[@danwoodward3786]

And that's the facts

[@sarahalbers5555]

He also fired the highly qualified Air Traffic Controllers.

[@marklandwehr7604]

Obviously you're too young to remember nixon And reclassification Of our drug laws And the billions that he spent on rehabilitation That now we spend on mass incarceration There are businesses like walmart that make billions on using prison labor Feeding prisoners garbage While making billions Competing with businesses that pay as close to possible a livable wage Those businesses compete against twenty cents an hour Talk to the prison system and they will tell you. We don't need businesses that pay people good wages we have slave labor

[@SnappyWasHere]

Reagan ruined this country. He had a whole team of people devising ways to hurt Americans.

[@BadPenny111]

Looks like you are one those that takes no personal responsibility. It's everyone else's fault.

[@gretahelphrey7842]

Heartbreaking.💔💔💔

[@scaredy-cat]

Sending tens of billions to others countries, and ignoring our own desperate needs! We as a country are in a downward spiral

[@akamomakawife4928]

Thanks for the content 100% great work.

[@htopherollem649]

being placed under psychiatric care is no magic happy ending. oftentimes this can result in being placed under the care of narcissistic mental health professionals who have no empathy and overinflated egos. other than different housing, these sufferers find no salvation from the ills that plaque them

[@DaMeng3000]

Now when’s the documentary on the victims at the hands of these people? We’ll wait.

[@cornell833]

I'm so glade I Got Over mental health Everything started When I was A kid 😢 Glade I made it Through 💪🤞 # 🙏 And continue to help others Make it through 💯

[@LeeBlegen]

Ledford's first "Public Defender" was absolutely incompetent. He was there over a year and she had done nothing. She didn't even have a plan. His new attorney had a plan, executed the plan, and got him out of County Jail and on his way to getting the treatment and/or placement that he seems to need. Imagine a year of your life spent in a County Jail pod where you don't even get to see the sun, sky, or breathe fresh air, for a year because of ineffective counsel. How sane would you be?

[@TBrl8]

Jail is not supposed to help people, it’s a punishment.

[@knotical689]

That only works if the places meant to help people are able to do so

[@TBrl8]

People can help themselves by not soliciting sex with minors or calling in bomb threats to schools. I know many people who have mental health issues but manage not to break the law constantly.

[@TBrl8]

We shouldn’t be dismissing cases against paedos.

[@banzy5387]

Long term mental care is needed!!!

[@BuildNumber42]

Jail is hell. I'd rather be in a trench in Ukraine than go to jail. Most people in jail have mental issues. Talking about this will get you fired.

[@Ef554rgcc]

That hand-held boom mic is dramatic.

[@davidgoodnow269]

Back in the 1980's, _for very good reason, the United States Supreme Court ruled that people cannot be confined to .mental facilities without their own voluntary authorization. The problem is, _crazy people don't think they're nuts!_ How can three or four different kinds of facilities be made, be made to work, and kept in a working state?

[@kathleenroberts6931]

Republicans have starved funding for Public Health & Mental health System. Private Prisons should not exist...just another form of slavery.

[@Northeastbaseball]

Nor do they have the mental capacity to voluntarily commit themselves....

[@davidgoodnow269]

@@Northeastbaseball Not so! A crazy person who is coming to deal with the fact that they are insane often *will* voluntarily commit themself. I know a homeless schizophrenic, it's the only way he can get the meds he needs to function.

[@shellbell313]

Many police have "critical intervention teams" (CIT), officers that are specially trained to deal with ppl in mental health crisis. If you have a loved one with mental illness and you need to call the police, be sure to give them heads up there is mental illness involved and ask for them to send a CIT trained officer if they have one.

[@HarleyLeatherman]

Prayers for dillion I've known him for few years now & he helped saved me one day in a autoparts store when a fight broke out.

[@cjeanie5884]

The jail has NO SOLUTION!! The State is abusing these people and needs to be held accountable.

[@jakebredthauer5100]

What do you recommend for them?

[@Northeastbaseball]

Unfortunately, jails, prisons and the criminal justice system as a whole has become a defacto mental health system. The jails and prisons are the only thing keeping the mental health system somewhat afloat thanks to the mental health professionals that work in those institutions. Only if the elected idiots paid attention to the CJ professionals that were screaming at the top of their lungs about this several years before COVID....

[@maureenstevens6824]

And if they are freed and violently harm or kill someone then you would be up in arms why they would be freed. The solution is to budget properly build the needed facilities..one very much needed is to MAKE sure they take their medication or stay in their room and inspection of each facility quarterly !!! INSTEAD OF 87,000 NEW IRS AGENTS !!! There are ways and funds to do this !!!!!!!

[@jakebredthauer5100]

@@maureenstevens6824 What these people be allowed to leave?

[@maureenstevens6824]

@@jakebredthauer5100 No ! Proper hospitals with psychiatrist, nurses and medications !!!!!!! For minimally as long as the sentence for said crime and longer as needed to assure to assure their mind is stable enough to fit into society and if ever released and they quit their mess or reoffend they are sent back and not allowed to be free again !!!

[@clbl8706]

Gotta love the CO saying "its not in our job title". Its not in your job title, but until we can figure out how to help them it does fall on you to show a little humanity. It wont kill you. Even if it should.

[@barrybarnes96]

Listening to Ledford you can readily see that he is missing that ability to exercise logic. He is a just little deeper down a sliding scale than where you will ordinarily find most of the MAGATS.

[@haret0n]

this problem exists in new zealand and england. both countries closed down psychiatric hospitals without properly funding community care. the justice system is left to cope with the unwell. and can't.

[@purplekey9330]

The procecutor bothered me in this one "His lawyer doesnt have an answer to the problem so I say we do nothing!"

[@MsRotorwings]

But inmate Dylan is somewhat responsible for his predicament. It he took meds and was stabilized he could be released. But he won’t take medication. If they were to release him he would undoubtedly be putting the community at risk by committing another crime.

[@DaMeng3000]

That’s a good prosecutor, actually cares about the citizens of the county.

[@purplekey9330]

@DaMeng3000 ...By doing nothing, riiiight...

[@terredee]

@@purplekey9330 He’s in jail. They’re in court. That is not “doing nothing”. The guy is a danger to the community, and he has the freedumb to refuse medication, which keeps him imprisoned. He’s too sick to be let out. There are not enough mental health services so prison at least keeps him off the streets. He has a bed, regular meals. That’s not “doing nothing”.

[@purplekey9330]

@terredee Yknow you were onto something when you said there weren't enough mental health services. We aren't putting enough money into things that'll actually help people like him. So we just put mentally ill people in jail and hope that if we do the same thing enough times things will change

[@SC_XOLOs]

Can’t help Americans.. but let’s send more money to Ukraine !! Wake up folks. Vote red ! Trump 2024

[@user-vz2ei3sb7r]

Trump 2024 🎉

[@tubeklw4533]

Good lord are you misguided.

[@HP-rp5nn]

Thank you for mentioning the interrelation of race and class. It is a tricky line between the two categories. He was very brave to mention it.

[@guesswhat-chickenbutt]

That man shouldn't be released if he's not required to take his meds.

[@tigerlilygirl2643]

This is so heartbreaking. Jail is no place for the mentally ill. Those corrections officers where right. Any time spent there just causes increased deterioration of the status of the mentally ill.

[@Heidi.M]

Excellent journalism and filming.

[@RJ-hm9gi]

Conditions and wait time should be agreed on. Good to see some attention to this conversation.

[@sultanalhadad]

As a regular person, prioritize issue resolution and problem-solving, embracing love and care for others as the ultimate solution. Advocate for peace instead of squandering resources on funding wars; redirect such funds to aid those in need, such as inmates with mental illness and homeless veterans. Reflect on the billions spent on conflicts like Ukraine and Israel, recognizing that every life lost is one too many. It's perplexing why some resist friendliness and honesty, as the cycle of hostility leads nowhere productive.

[@mjones2619]

Waiting on beds means there’s not enough readily available facilities agencies, or hospitals to address the needs for mental health clients and thus the long wait, this is a solvable issue that the states need to implement a plan for and it would cure all the backlog issues

[@oldowl4290]

My father is a state certified psychologist in Raleigh North Carolina (Life Quality Resources) and he and his team have worked with the state in various aspects including defendant evaluations, work with the State Police force in officer involved shootings, and many other aspects of public well being. What this micro-documentary did not address (that I saw) was single client evaluations by multiple doctors as well true clinical / scientific / medical diagnosis. For example, schizophrenia has actual markers in the brain that can be tested to prove whether the suspected mental condition is actually real or not from a medical standpoint, not just an observational standpoint. And while some schizophrenics don't want to take medication, so might a person who knows they are probably not schizophrenic. You could in fact potentially act "a little crazy" on purpose to fool people which is why full medical diagnosis should be a firm requirement in most cases. From what I'm seeing in this (and again, I'm not a doctor) I'd say Mr. Ledform either has no schizophrenia or very little. It also sounds like the evidence of him calling in a bomb threat was circumstantial and never proven. And even if it was, how does that actually relate to a true diagnosis? Was he just doing things for attention because of failed parenting or his he actually clinically ill? I've also met actual schizophrenic homeless before, both light and severe cases and their mind for the most part is a true roller coaster. They can hold a conversation for a minute or two or perhaps five at best, but will eventually segue into very elaborate stories which make no sense and these are commonly filled with elaborate fearful delusions of people wanting to hurt them and wild things of this nature. I just didn't see enough of the "wild fantasies" with Mr. Ledford but maybe he does a lot more off camera. Regardless, given what I saw in this documentary, it makes me wonder how many non-medically diagnosed inmates may simply pretend to be mentally ill on some level just to milk the system in hopes of case dismissal. What is true however is that any amount of time in a cell, especially a year or more, will inevitably drive any sane person to some level of insanity. But if people like Mr. Ledford are not fully medically diagnosed, how would the courts actually be able to conduct a fair trial to produce the proper outcome?? If anything, what I got out of watching this is that the system is very flawed, especially in southern states like North Carolina and that we also need appropriate mental facilities which are able to properly diagnose people both observationally and medically. Lastly, no thanks to the Reagan Administration in the 1980's, as they completely de-funded federally subsidized state mental hospitals and this greatly contributed to actual mentally ill people filling up jails and prisons where they cannot get proper treatment. In turn this has also greatly contributed to the explosive homeless epidemic throughout the nation over the last 3 decades as it's reported that the majority of homeless people suffer from some form of mental illness. Lastly, I feel that instead of continuing to give out billions of dollars in federal foreign aid each year we really need to take better care of our people, our cities, our children. We can't help others when we are doing such a bad job at helping ourselves. Another example is education. People pay $20 a month for Netflix yet we have no national online university. Imagine how for $20 a month you could get a degree in countless fields all from your own home. We obviously have the tools and technology. It's basically the wealthy elite, on both sides of politics, that would rather keep the masses incarcerated, uneducated, unhealthy, ...and poor.

[@christophlieding734]

Amazing that their are people who wanted to help against all odds. wow I dont think I ever could do that.

[@carlosdegroot6966]

this is a most terrible crime against the people;(;(they must have healthcare and a chance,its not there fault..thankyou for this reporting