Dear Senator Metcalf and Senator Carter,

      I am writing this letter to you because I am at the end of my choices for trying to get help for my son. Let me tell you a little about him.

      First of all, I met the two of you at the Mental Health Consortium at UNCA quite a few months back. You may remember I asked a question at the end regarding services, especially hospital services for children needing them under the age of 12 years. I work at the Downtown Asheville post office, and have spoke with Sen. Carter on several occasions.

      Now going on to my son. Seth is his name and he is 11-1/2 years of age. He was diagnosed as ADHD, bipolar about 3 years ago. My son has seen 2 different psychiatrists and is now under the care of Dr. John Smith here in Asheville. He has also seen numerous therapists over the last 3 years, but therapy has not helped him at all. Now he refuses to talk to a therapist at all. My son and I see Dr. Smith on a monthly basis, in order to keep Seth on the medications that he needs to semi-control this illness.

      Since about last April, Seth has decisively become worse. I have talked in lengths with his doctor about what we could do for this and we both agreed that more medicines would only serve to sedate my son, which is not what either of us want for him. Seth has become more defiant at home and now is defiant with his teachers at school and also with the superiors over them. Dr. Smith and I agreed that we should get him involved with the court system as an 'undisciplined child' and then we would be able to get more needed services such as out of home residential placement, for a period of time. After checking with other mothers of bipolar children, I was informed that there was legislature that was passed after Willie M. to help children with other services, but only after they have been labeled "At-Risk" children, and this could only be done through Blue Ridge Mental Health here in Asheville.

      Judge Shirley Brown saw my son Seth approximately two weeks ago and he was placed on supervised probation. He was also ordered to complete the assessment by Blue Ridge for "At Risk" children, in order to be able to get some of the needed services already passed down thru the legislature. My son receives numerous pink slips in school for disrespecting authority, and not doing assignments, and also bullies other children and adults, and has threatened teachers and family members, therefore I consider my son a danger to himself as well as others.

      Seth and I went thru a 2-and-1/2 hour assessment last Thursday, with a lady named Mary Jones, who after the assessment told me that "if Seth is found to be labeled as an "At Risk" child through their findings, he would be placed on a waiting list to receive these services. That even though legislation was passed months ago for them to receive these monies, that they haven't 'trickled' down to them, and even if they did, they could not say who on the list would receive services, and how they would prioritize who would get them." And then, I was told this assessment that we just had cost me $2.00, and was not funded under Willie M. or At Risk children.

      I was told by a very close friend in WNC Families Can, a support group that I belong to, that these funds have been at Blue Ridge for months, and the monies are not being allocated to these children…. I find this to be blatant misuse of funds, and highly illegal? Is there any way that this can be checked into?

      My son's court caseworker's name is Jane Doe, and I can supply you with many other names of folks who are trying to help him, but can't because the funds aren't available through Blue Ridge at this time. Mrs. Doe has tried to get him into some mentoring programs and other programs with no avail, because of his age, so we as his family have to console him as best as we can until we can get him into residential. This is so hard on my family and also his sister. I have no other family living here to offer me respite, even though I do let Seth spend Saturday nights with his Dad, against my better judgment just so we can rest from trying to have some sort of logical control over him through the week.

      I love my son very, very much, and don't want to put him into foster care or get rid of him, just so I can lead a so called normal life, but I would like him to receive the services that are there for these children who very much need this type of service.

      In closing, I want to say that these children don't choose to act this way, and be disobedient, but that it is a chemical deficiency in their brains, just as insulin deficiencies in diabetic people make them ill. Let's treat mental illness as it is, an illness; and not something that we shove back, only to have them grow up and be institutionalized at our expense for the rest of their lives. Let's intervene now, while they are vulnerable. Let's get the funding where it is supposed to go.

Thank you so very much for your time on this.

Very sincerely yours,