Waiting for Tearah - One Family’s Fight for Mental Health Care (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2019
- “Waiting for Tearah” follows a family’s struggle to navigate America’s mental health care system, and explores the often unseen costs of care.
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At 16, Tearah, who suffers from mental illness, remains stuck in a hospital month after month, as her mother struggles to navigate America’s mental health care system. As Shayna, a single parent of three girls, fights to get Tearah residential treatment, she faces the possibility of losing her home and even custody of her daughter.
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This film was produced as part of the FRONTLINE and Firelight Media fellowship to support diverse independent producers interested in investigative documentary filmmaking.
Additional reporting support for Documentalista in partnership with Type Investigations.
Funding for WAITING FOR TEARAH was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Type Investigations.
Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation, the Park Foundation, The John and Helen Glessner Family Trust, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation.
ABOUT FIRELIGHT MEDIA: Founded and led by MacArthur “genius” fellow Stanley Nelson and award-winning writer and philanthropy executive Marcia Smith, Firelight was born to address the deficit of films made by and about diverse communities. Recent productions include: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Freedom Summer, and Freedom Riders. Firelight’s flagship program - the Documentary Lab - is a fellowship that provides mentorship, funding, and access to emerging filmmakers from underrepresented communities.
Major funding for Firelight is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcast, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Andrus Family Fund, Wellspring Advisers, Bertha Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Genuine Article Pictures.
You are an incredible mother. The system has let you down over and over, yet you persevere. I wish every kid had someone like you in their lives. Wishing you all the best.
Can you imagine what she could do it she had the help she so desperately needs?
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This is terribly saddening, but what an extraordinary mother she is.
That is one incredible woman. Tearah is very lucky to have her for a mother.
Tiara is so lucky to have a mother who loved her so much.
I am truly in awe of her strength. I admire her courage, calmness, determination and absolute resolve to keep her family together. May God bless you and your family💞
This lady actually needs a go fund me she is a good person and a great Mom
Teara is very blessed to have Shayna as a mother. I am a Mama to a special needs son, autistic, developmentally delayed, legally blind and on and on. Shayna, you are a beautiful human with an equally beautiful soul. I see you❤️❤️
Can you imagine being a mom and can’t take care of your child. That poor woman must be heartbroken every time she has to leave her child there knowing that if she did what her heart wanted to it could be dangerous for her other two children…. I feel for her situation 🤍
God bless that loving mother and her beautiful family. 🙏🏽
DCF ? Please! Their goal is to keep families together? They also fail to remove many kids who are being abused at home
Thank you to PBS for taking a look into this very important subject matter) of just one family’s story, that speaks volumes for the thousands going through this same struggle), and a huge thank you to this family for sharing their most intimate struggles as well as, their love as a family. Such a beautifully amazing family. They ALL are so very lucky to have one another. I have no doubt they will thrivingly ‘fight’ through this and come out on the winning end of it all.
Many good vibes and blessings being sent their way.
As for the ‘mental health,’ system in the USA, it definitely needs to be ‘revamped.’
(As well as, the whole healthcare system does just like other things/systems do as well.)
When profits become more important than people’s safety, well-beings, and happiness, then there’s a huge miscarriage of ‘humanity’ in general.
In general, that’s exactly what our country (and a lot of the world as a whole) has unfortunately become, all around.
It’s the sad facts of our realty nowadays, and there most definitely needs to be some positively defining changes made, like now.
She is beyond extraordinary and an inspiration. You have no idea what obstacles she overcame including navigating child protective services who subsidized many other youth living in similar circumstances to gain access to the residential services that she described yet denied her. It’s about access and despite having one barrier after another thrown in front of her, she continued her courageous fight for the love of Tearah and her other children. Most people would have given up. Her strength and tenacity are amazing testaments to how strong and resilient she truly is. I feel proud to know her and her family❤
Big respect to this momma right here. As a mother who struggled with mental health myself, icant even imagine the strength it takes to keep your family together and safe while struggling economically and trying to keep your other kids safe with virtually no help. I would cripple under that pressure 100 percent.
This is the mom everyone needs! Wow!! What an amazing parent. So glad the girls were doing better by the end. ❤
She's just a mother who wants what is best for her beautiful daughter 💟😭
What a truly loving and all in mother. Big Big respect and Blessings to her and her family.💙🙏
,
The strength and love of a mother I tell you is unwavering and bountiful...God bless this family in the name of Jesus.
Amen
She is the definition of a true mother ❤
I wish so many kids could have a mother like Tearah's. What an amazing woman.
This was so moving and so frustrating at the same time. Tearah's mom is absolutely amazing! She is patient with Tearah and keeps moving forward when the mental health system in our country puts up horrific road blocks to good care for Tearah and her family. This is real, folks! I am a retired mental health counselor who worked with children. The families and children I worked with faced the same challenges highlighted in this documentary. Few choices, below standard care or lack of care, intense hardships for families. Tearah's mom is amazingly resilient in the face of this. But we HAVE to do better as a nation, as a human race! Certainly our current administration doesn't give a damn; hopefully the next one might. Thank you so much, Tearah and Mom, for showing us what love and grace look like. I hope more help is coming.
Such an incredible mother. Tearah is very lucky to have you. Peace and blessings to you and your family.
Just rolling my eyes at the DCF lady stating that residential care homes aren’t good for children and they do better with their families when literally the medical professionals are recommending the care home. It’s to no one’s benefit to keep your child at home with you when they are violent towards you & the other children in the home! It’s CHEAPER for DCF if they don’t provide the service. Bottom line, they don’t care about the families, they care about the $.
I hope none of these children are being dosed with atypical antipsychotics. My mom was deaf, and had a cochlear implant, which helped with her frustration. My father got her an oil painting kit for her 50th birthday, because it was something she didn’t need her hearing for. She loved it, eventually taught little local groups.
I understand there is much more going on with this child. It’s a shame there isn’t a day school to help her, and allow her the comfort of her family at night, or on the weekends.
I’m Canadian, and really hope every single American will soon have fully covered access to healthcare.♥️
Shayna and Tearrah, thank you for sharing this intimate look into the challenges you face. Congratulations to both of you (and your family) for diligence, persistence and resilence.
Currently the main crisis in mental health is the problem of over reliance on psychotropic medications at the expense of labor intensive care such as psychotherapy, residential facilities, or at-home caregivers. Money that would be going to these practioners is instead going to pharma companies, insurance companies, and hospitals. Research that would help to rebalance the importance of direct in-person therapy over medication is suppressed by institutions such as the FDA. US prisons have become the largest mental health care treatment facilities in our country, and the standards set therein permeate the rest of the mental health care system, particularly private for-profit inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
I work at a residential facility for children from the age of 5 to 21. We work with kids w autism, behavioral issues and many other developmental delays. We take kids in with extreme pasts with abuse, neglect and some that come from great families. We are also a school and have kids that come from surrounding districts that have been deemed too much work for regular schools. And I will tell you a lot of it is about money, because if a resident's care is being covered by a county and that county decides they don't want to pay for a child to be there, we do not keep them. They are discharged.
Yes but this child had a developmental problem not a mental health problem, its different. She needed more aid than just psychotherapy. I agree pills are not the answer.
"Keep families together" is GOP speak for "It's all on your dime."
This mom ❤️😭 God bless her perseverance and strength.
God my heart broke, what a loving mother and family.
what an amazing mom you are. mother's are the best gift in this world.
😂
Wish everyone, especially me, could be so loving and cheerful while tackling all this. Hope things stabilize for you.
Challenges like this are not for a faint of heart. And it truly tests you in ways you cannot imagine. As families navigate the system, often one that is broken, or unresponsive to what they truly need, advocacy and activism are born, in the face of what is simply...missing. Blest be, all...
God Bless this beautiful family. Ive seen so many families exp similar things trying to help their children. I hope our system come up with better ways to help accomodate and assist with these situations. Amazingly enough we can help anyone else coming here with whatever but can't help our own. Please let's do better America.
Hope we can get rid of degenerates like you in the process.
Wow. So patient. So loving. So dedicated to her babies. Would love to see an update on her and her family 💚
Whew your strength as a mother is beautiful and your patience I love it❤
To watch the struggles this famiy has overcome, the connections with each, and the strength of Tearah's mother is so wonderful. I cried, smiled and laughed watching this video. I wish the best for this family, and hope one day they recieve the funding for whatever is needed to help Tearah for her mental healh care.
amazing people to be strong and cope with things within their family. I wish more people were strong like this nice family
I work with families in similar situations. I see the difference between parents who give it their all and sacrifice so much and then parents who resent their children and almost seem to dislike them. It is very sad. They need help so bad. Others have no idea what these families are going through. GOD BLESS THEM.
This mom is amazing!!! Woah crazy how can people help
❤ I hope soon more services will be made available for her. Shes doing great considering
Such a brave courageous mother to stand by her daughter Awesome woman 😊
Such a strong mother may god bless her & the family always
An extraordinary mom
The DCF commissioner is right about children thriving in home settings BUT in the case of violence, suicidal ideation, abuse, residents treatment is the most humane option. The worst things we can do is apply one-sized solutions to humans in crisis. Blessings to this strong mother!
Big hugs. You advocated over and over for Tearah and the system accused you of not being a good mother. I’m SO sorry!
This mom is absolutely amazing. Prayers to this beautiful family.
I'm in tears, I love this family so much. Shayna is a mother like no other -- the love in her heart, and devotion to her kids, and ability to stay grounded and patient with Tearah...her ability to see the goodness and worth in Tearah and not let that be obscured or overridden by her challenges...I don't know that I've ever seen a mother with this degree of innate skill before. And Tearah IS so lovable, and so completely deserves a wonderful life filled with love, affirmation, satisfaction and joy. God, I just want the best for this family with all my heart. What beautiful people, inside and out!!!
Sad. :( but you seem to be a good mother, she's lucky to have you.
Ok, I just figured out what Im gnna do on those days when I'm all kinds of pissed off at my Mom for acting immature and with no sense of patience, I will be back here to watch great examples of positivity and parent leadership skills at its finest from Ms. Sheena! Hope Mommies from miles around are takin good note from u Lady!
What a wonderful mom. I hope this family is doing ok.
GOD will continue to bless this family. Tearah will have peace in her heart and mind. She has an incredible and amazing mother,
Thank you for sharing this.
This Mama is Smart and strong
Residential would have PERFECTTTTTTTTT for her. I can’t believe how the system failed her. Praying for her mother and sisters continued strength because I know it’s tough.
Keep plugging along ... beautiful matreark mama ... full immulation of what love is for your child .. she is so precious ... you can see the love and respect in her eyes for you ... no one quite understands regardless unless they've walked in your shoes ... so sad the system has let your family down ... I'm so sorry ... I get you ... I'm there with you ... hugs and prayers
What an awesome mother ❤️
Shanya is an amazing mother! I hope the family is doing well, today
My first reaction was to blame the mother. Then I noticed how Tearah had her major meltdown when her mother was NOT there and how relaxed she was WITH her mother. The problem is a total lack of support. The system wants the mother to take Tearah home under threat of prosecution for neglect and abandonment yet won't give the much needed support. The system is very broken.
Weird your first thought would be to blame the mother, as if she can control the mental health of her child….
Sending Healing Blessings !
Adrian H.
What an amazing mom! I love her strength and fight for her baby girl. ❤
Mother is amazing bless you all ❤️🙏
Good documentary. Hoping the best for Tearah.
Words can’t describe how I feel I feel this mother’s pain. The system is broken and dysfunctional when dealing with cases they don’t understand but they are quick to respond with neglect
amazing mama.
Major Respect to this Mother !!
I worked in behavioral health for many years. I remember a woman I worked with who was CEO of my company. We were discussing a particularly difficult case, a family with a situation not unlike this family’s. The CEO said to me, we can’t serve everyone. I was disgusted and horrified that these words just rolled off her tongue. Like tough $h!t. I lost hope for our children and all respect for the higher ups. They make so much money with salary and the bonuses are in the millions. Part of how they are successful is that they figure out how not to help people. That is literally their job. Keep as much money from the contracts they are tasked with administering.
Thank you to Frontline for this program highlighting this issue that almost always is ignored. ❤
All the best to the young girl and her family. ❤
INCREDIBLE MOTHER!
She is an excellent Mother. I wish all children could have at least one parent as good as her.
Mama, you are AMAZING!
Such strong QUEENS !! Mother & Daughter❤️❤️❤️
Incredible mother to a beautiful dtr, Tearah
This was amazing
I'm a CODA! Both my parents were Deaf!
My mom went to school in Newark and in Trenton New Jersey .
The mental health system is broken. Medications, psychiatric help is very expensive. It is also difficult to find good psychiatrists and hospitals. Psychiatric care is still in its infancy. I was Baker Acted in a hospital room for 3 days because I had a severe anxiety attack and wanted to take my life. It was the scariest time of my life. They took away my cell phone and patient phone. I have schizoaffective disorder. When I was little my mother and father took good care of me. The psychiatric care was limited more then in the dark ages. I feel bad for this mother, daughter and their family. Residential care is too expensive. The mental hospitals have all closed. So, there is no place to go. Insurance is stinky. Especially for the lower income and middle class families. Most people aren’t in the 1% income bracket with the best insurance. Social services are unfortunately lacking.
The patience and respect mom showsTearah is extrodanary to say the least, God picked this mom for Tearah for ovious reasons,
What an amazing mother ! 🙏
This is shameful and heartbreaking. Why should a family lose everything in the quest of services for their child. At least this child does not want for a loving family. This is just another way families are pounded into poverty.
you are an amazing mother
Thank god for the NHS
I stumbled into this and it hit so close to home. My 15 year old had 18 crisis hospital stays before he finally got into residential care. I also had to seek voluntary services from dcyf i was crying to them scared that my son would keep hurting me and my daughter. He has been in permanent care now for over 2 years but it is a constant struggle we have amazing days and then there are days we go back 10 million steps. The mental health system is broken for kids and unless you have a 6 figure salary your child does not get the level of care they desperately need.
Please get him tested for PAN and PANDAS disease
shayna is a wonderful mother
I fight for my son everyday to find the right services he needs. This story is sad, but its the similar story we all have denied for the very services we need. Turned away or made to call this office & that office only to be told in some cases it doesn't exist. Never give up we will find it eventually.
its heartbreaking to watch how utterly all the supports failed this family. This woman is amazing and has done so much - the system really has to be there for families like this. I hope her daughter gets the support she needs, whether or not she can one day be 'independent' or 'productive' - she's a human being with needs and rights, and she deserves a safe and supportive place to live.
But I'm torn because the way this video is framed, it seems to suggest that 'an institution' might be that place. This video could have done a better job of talking about in community services. there is a reason the disability rights movement advocates for community rather than institutional care, and this video sort of dismissed the idea that removing a kid from family and putting them into an institutional setting can be disruptive as them trying to push the problem off. That doesn't remotely mean there are adequate community care options - clearly there are not yet, and way more needs to be available and provided and covered under aid programs. But more beds in institutions is not really an answer, and dismissing the critiques of institutional care or calling it 'dorm style' is iffy to me. The disability rights movement has lots of resources for this - please consult them
If she doesn't get residential treatment financed than she should get a 4 people cere giver rotation! It's so awful to know the USA are that far behind civilised countries !
First of all, this mother is amazing. She is doing everything she can possibly do. It’s breaking my heart that finding help for her child is so difficult and that she has to figure it all out while trying to do everything else like work, etc. Clearly lightyears from neglecting her child.
Second, an over reliance on residential facilities is way different than someone who truly needs it. This isn’t just a kid that the parents don’t want to deal with. It’s obvious they care about her and are trying to do the best they can to get her the help she desperately needs. DCF needs to reevaluate where they stand on residential facilities. Suggesting equine therapy for someone who’s been referred to residential services by two hospitals is irresponsible. They would be putting that child in a dangerous position as well as trainers, volunteers, etc. Equine therapy is great- don’t get me wrong- but this is a different situation.
I feel so sorry for her. She needs a lot of help.
Tiara is a beautiful girl and her mom is a real boss lash knows how to keep her house in order
God bless this family! Mental health services are scarce and Congress and our government doesn’t care at all
This was more a developmental problem not a mental health problem.
20:25 - 20:35 They should subtitle this ASL scene. It's so touching! I wonder what Shayna is saying to Tearah? If anyone knows ASL, please translate!!! Thanks!
She is facing eviction my question is is the fiance helping her with anything
Shayna, thank you💚
Can we start a fundraiser??
UPDATE!?
This is why I support Medicare for All. 💖💖💖
Medicare won't pay for it
This mother is amazing! The lengths that she goes for the love of her daughter is inspiring. I hope that one day, soon, Big Pharma can take some of their billions in profits and actually help people with mental health issues.
Has she been tested for PAN or PANDAS disease?!?!?!
Good job. Good documentary. Good awareness.
Wow. People in such and similar situations deserve special care. In special institutions. Up till when they are better to live in the family home. They deserve happiness. We owe it to them, we the people and government. They don't fully know what they're passing through or missing. Giving them special care in special institutions should be a law, and free of charge. And not up to who can afford it.
Government should sponsor more research and awareness on mental health. It's lagging behind. It's a huge gap in advancement between physical medical health and mental health. And its a societal problem(mental health issues), a menace, which requires some action and solution. More knowledge and data will eventually help manage these such situations easier, and where and how to seek help, and get more professionals and therapists onboard. And also help eradicate the stigma associated with such anywhere.
I can't imagine the pain of victims and families who have no money to access professional help.
She has a loving and caring family💙. Wishing her and her family and all in similar situations the best.
WRONG!!! WE HAVE TO STOP HAVING BABIES...BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH, WE NEED TO START EATING BABIES...TOO MUCH C02!!!!
Special institutions and special care, FREE OF CHARGE!!!??? Nothing is free. Where do you get this mindset; the government should . . . where do you think the government gets its revenues? Why not send some of your own finances to help out.
@@claudiolordino2192 well they do already tax us and they send billions all around the world to other nations...4 billion to israel... Millions to Mexico and Central America ... Shouldn't that money stay here for the benefit of Americans????
@@bilbobaggins4710 Of course - America first! (Ghee, someone else is singing that tune as well now days. . . or at least for the last three years.) I am simply saying that all the FREEE STUFF is a fantasy -- sooner or later, you run out of everyone else's money; and that if you're so moved to help (most of the giving is for the givers ego) that you should give of your own resources even more than what the government is already taking.
I’d love to know the lead levels in her body.
True never know , everything has a reason .
Wow, that's a thought. Lead is devastating to young children's health and developement. I am amazed by this family. And appalled at the lack of resources available.
Yeah, it's a serious problem to seek immediate help with these types of kids. From no beds to no services. There's money, but it ends up all going towards paying people in offices like the ministry of Children and family Development (MCFD) for Canada, and the American Dept. of Children & Families (DCF) There's a better system, but its coming in the future. I figure every country has mental health issues, and if they were all united, they could build huge institutions to house the mentally ill, and treat their symptoms, along with a proper diagnosis as well. They'll decide with all their united funding where the facilities will be built, and these agencies, dept., and ministries will all be abolished, saving millions in bachelor degree wages for clerical staff people. Those savings alone will build these new state of the art institutions. Each country's government will pay into this system for their citizens.
If you have kids showing psychotic episodes, and they're burning out their family, then a specialist can come and take the child to this facility. Right now, its a nightmare for families trying to get access to specialists, and care facilities don't even exist. These kids get sent to the hospital, and then sent back home? They literally terrorize their families with their mood swings, psychotic outbursts, and violent paranoia? There's a reason why there's so much mentally ill people out on our streets today.
Has birth control been discussed??!! I definitely think a permanent solution would benefit the daughter as well as the mother!! She definitely won't be able to take care of a child on her own and any dog that preys on these type of children needs to be CASTRATED!!!
There needs to be way better options for mental health treatments, especially in community services. Your choices for someone in a mental health crisis shouldn't just be the ER that doesn't offer any mental health services or calling the cops, who have either no training in mental health or very little and I'm not trying to belittle either profession I'm just stating facts. There's also the problem that once the crisis is over they're sent on their merry way with no additional care, support or access to medication if need be and very quickly end up back in the place they started.
its sad that services just as good are offered in Mexico, for half the price.
Where are you getting your information I've done multiple searches and they all come up with horrible abuse and neglect reports inside Mexican mental health hospitals can you show me your information please
@@flahertyrick88 sorry, im assuming that they would be priced like nursing homes in mexico. They have good nursing homes that are way cheaper than the us. Like u i just did a search, and u r right. Mental health services are abysmal in mexico.