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Testimony

Joy Scoble
Clifton, NJ

Before the
Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health

January 19, 2005

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Task Force,

My brother has recently been released from Northern State Prison.  He completed his 4 year sentence and was maxed out.   Since his release, he’s moved from location to location because he has had fits of rage and the family member or friend, who has been so gracious as to support him, no longer feels comfortable having him live with them. Today, my brother is living on the streets.  Today, in these freezing temperatures, my brother does not have a place to call home.  My mother cries constantly on sleepless nights because she is unable to allow my brother to visit her at home.

About 4 or 5 years ago, my brother attempted to attack my father in the middle of the night with a broomstick.  During this battle, my brother claimed that he was going to kill my father and when that was done, he was going to go back into the house and kill everyone else.  This, coming from a brother with whom my sister and I have been so close to in our childhood years, was shocking to hear.  The reason why I do not hold this against my brother is because I know it was something that was triggered by his mental illness.   When he has a fit of rage, as he does randomly, there is no catalyst that sets it off.

For about 5 or 6 years now, my family has desperately attempted to get him help for his mental illness.  My mom has pleaded to a judge at one point, to try and have him committed.   This was unsuccessful because he’s an “adult” who cannot be forced into help.   For years, he’s been thrown out of Salvation Army and YMCA housing because he’s been in fights with other residents.   During his 4 years at Northern State Prison, he’s been in multiple fights and has been placed into solitary confinement more times that I can count.  At one point, his doctor had put him on Risperdal and when family had visited him, there was a significant change in his attitude.  He had seemed completely “normal.”   Only a few visits after that, he converted back to his depressive state.   After questioning him about the medication, he explained that he didn’t think it was working, so he decided to stop taking it.  After that visit, he had gotten into another fight.

While my brother was finishing up his sentence, I had received a letter in the mail.  It was from a gentleman who had shared a jail cell with him in the past.  This man had been released from jail and he wrote to me because he was concerned for my brother.   He noticed that my brother had reverted back to his depressive and destructive state and was wondering if he had stopped taking the medication.

Today, everyone who’s met him is convinced that he needs extreme help for his mental illness.   When he gets into a fit of rage, he does not make sense and he appears to be dangerous.  I’ve recently contacted my local city police station to inform them that my brother is living on the streets and that if he were to get into any trouble, I would prefer it if he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation on his mental illness.   When I spoke to the Lieutenant, he informed me that he remembered my brother from previous incidents.  When I explained that he’s having fits of rage, this officer assured me that if they found him, they’d take him into a hospital.  The next day, my mother called the police on my brother because he was trying to get into her house.   The police officers showed up, and said they couldn’t take him anywhere against his will.

This is why I’ve felt so helpless.  Numerous times, I’ve contacted hundreds of people in law enforcement and mental health offices, but have been unsuccessful in receiving advice.  As I’ve been told, I cannot get help for my brother until he attempts suicide.  Which, in my opinion, is sad.  It’s sad that society will not help others until extreme measures are taken.

I wholeheartedly support assisted outpatient treatment and hope that New Jersey will take the step that so many other states have taken in improving mental health issues before anything extreme happens.  Before lives are taken from innocent people who are either victims or are those who cannot ask for help themselves.  I implore you to consider giving individuals another chance at life.

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