The Price of Care: Taken by the State | Season 2, Ep. 5 of an ABC10 Originals five-part docuseries

[@jillschutte1082]

Thank you for watching this. This is the 5th part of a 5 part docuseries about life abuse and potential death of California's youth with disabilities. If you have not watched all five of this series please take the time to do that. I think it will shock you and hopefully empower you to tell anyone that you know, that has a family member with Autism or a developmental disability, to watch these and make the best decisions for their youth with a disability. This agency event is life changing. Eliminating the problem could also be life changing. Department of Developmental Services has almost 500 youth with disabilities under their total power thought a conservatorship. These individuals likely don't know about this entrapment and are suffering alone. They need your help. I am the mom of 2 of the incredible young men voicing that they want the best for their brother and anyone like him. The brothers, missing their brother for almost a year, were polite, to the point and just suggest to the 21 California State Regional Centers, the Department of Developmental Services, the State Attorney General, the State Auditor, the Disability Rights Advocates, to just "Do the Right Thing". Respectfully, Garth's (mostly episode 1) mom.

[@bliaher9839]

I'm going through something similar. What would you do differently?

[@mariebergum1985]

THANK YOU SO MUST AND STAND UP FOR

[@MrWaterbugdesign]

I'm 66 year old US male with Asperger's. I was a very successful software engineer working in startups until 45 years old when I "retired". Quoted because I continued writing software which I love but on projects I like which most have no economic value. I've been concerned my whole life of losing my freedom. I love my family, but people can be a little weird. They can think they know better. This "I know better" of thinking has been increasing in recent years. My assets only increase the risk imo because people can become more "concerned" when there is money is involved. And not just the Asperger's but getting older increases my risk. To reduce my risk I've been distancing myself from family and neighbors. Past 4 years I've lived as a hermit. For most people that sounds sad, but I love it. I have a super Japanese style garden here in central Phoenix. I invent things, write software, 2 hour walks everyday, paint and work on my house. But if people saw how I lived it would seem very strange and not living like everyone else can be seen as "mental illness". I'm getting ready to start traveling. Plan to be in SE Asia for 6 months of the year. I think when in SE Asia I'll be much more accepted. They have more respect for elderly and a lot of respect for foreigners for the income we can bring. Also while many speak English they won't spot my quirks as fast and may chalk any they spot as a foreigner quirk. The main issue with conservatorships is when they should be applied. There's many people who can almost function in society but really could use some help by which I mean having some decisions made for them. However these same people rarely understand this. They think they can make great decisions for themselves. but keep getting into trouble. It's a Catch-22. For example, are drug addicts making good decisions for themselves? Or anyone living on the streets? We speak of homelessness like the only issue is the lack of a structure. But the reality is many homeless are so because they lack the skills needed to live in a structure and/or keep making terrible decisions that sabotage staying in the structure. Maybe better for these people to have some of their rights taken away? Right now our system is binary. Go to prison or complete freedom. Conservatorships or complete freedom.

[@carolharrison5780]

So important now that new bills are on the table to force homeless people into conservatorship. Hopefully it can be a supportive one as their health improves mentally and physically.

[@mariebergum1985]

And you need stand up for your rights .

[@jeangenie3240]

What about the conservatorships that are the same thing but the same ppl are trained in code and jargon to call it “supported decision making”

[@jeangenie3240]

Medicaid bed hold policies are a way to keep ppl isolated from visiting family over weekends without staff

[@nicholewhite4067]

Sounds like Britney spears

[@mariebergum1985]

💪💪💪💪💪help with the law AB 1663 TO GET PASSED . And it help people with a disability to live a lead a self- determined lives. 💪💪💪💪

[@Sw33tSara]

We hear everyday people loose their kids loved one by dcf ect... and r good ppl. No ones perfect but these kids/ppl where safe... yet it’s always actual cases that need dcf ect NOT RECIEVING THE HELP! ##FIXOURGOV #WATCHDCF

[@KristinaUSA-x5n]

They should not allow conservatorships.

[@mariebergum1985]

[@EW-uw7dg]

Suzanne Francisco, Judy Mark 👏🏆 and to all those involved fighting this 👏💯. What gave them the right to do this to people with disabilities? They should be sued, class action lawsuit.

[@MrWaterbugdesign]

OK, but what if one of your loved ones suffered a brain injury that caused them to keep making bad decisions leading to them being homeless? Would you be OK with that? Standby and say "Hey, it's their life." I don't know the answer. However I can see it being a difficult matter for all involved. We say we to help the disabled, but what if the disability is an inability to make good rational choices? How to do you help them without making decisions for them? This video presented one side, the side they wanted you to see. I suspect there's a lot of issues we're not seeing. A mentally disabled person certainly can see caregivers as abusive, thieves, aliens from another world. Just because they say these things doesn't mean it's always true. I don't know the whole story here and clearly it isn't being given.

[@seime27G]

I love you friend