John Nutting

In Maine, in the last eight to 10 years, we've had so many instances where we've got our growing list of parents and family members from our family support groups to come to Augusta to testify on public hearings, to come to Augusta for press conferences.

After the Lewiston tragedy that was written in all the papers, a young man that was schizophrenic, the Army had him on a treatment plan.

He was reservist, so when his reserve time was done, they released him to the state of Maine.

The state of Maine did not keep him on his treatment plan.

And so we had three press conferences on that one subject alone because you almost could have predicted that eventually something was going to happen

The psychosis and the visions that they get, schizophrenia especially, it becomes reality to them.

That demon is living in the light switch, or my mother is trying to kill me and is evil.

And once they're on a treatment plan, those things change.

I know a parent that I've got to keep nameless, but she lives in the southern part of the United States.

And because of her son's phobia and delusions that are real to him, she's very evil and he has to kill her.

He's a former sharpshooter in the military, not just an average person.

The laws down there are so terrible, different county by county, that they're just saying, oh, well, oh, well, you know, absolutely nothing.

This is just, you know, a terrible, terrible situation.

Last year, I, like millions of other people, watched Governor Newsom from California come on 60 Minutes talking about the new Care Court Act in California.

Extra money for judges and housing to get the homeless off the street and help them get a job.

All sounded wonderful.

And right at the last minute, without telling the parents or the psychiatrists or any of the medical professionals, they made it voluntary.

It gutted the whole bill.

So now I've heard with our National Shattering Silence Coalition monthly national Zoom calls we have, parents in California, they get their loved one to court.

You know, you've been homeless, in and out of jails.