[acroyear]

Author's first impulse is to look to the state for the care of his child. WRONG!!!! YOU and your family are the primary folks responsible for this kid. Your wife had about the same chance of success as any set of teachers or state gov't goons but with much more incentives. What the hell was she doing? (probably getting her 'career' on - woo hoo!)

Why are ppl so apt to think that state employees are miracle workers? Central command/control and one-size-fits-all solutions (or any approximation thereof) are bound to fail for most of us who have special needs.

[jessaustin]

I'd speculate that anyone "political" enough to be elected to the legislature at the tender age of 25 will never be able to step outside the mentally-crippling assumptions of the total-services state. Note the unrecognized contradiction between "the state should provide this service and provide it well" and "when I was in charge of things for the state, the LAST thing I or any of my colleagues cared about was providing this service".

[acroyear]

exactly; he's just a bloke like you and I - not some super-helper-expert-because-i-work-for-the-state guy.

I'm not saying we shouldn't expect any return for our tax dollars; but certainly not as the primary source of help (read 'assistance'). also, perhaps the problem shouldn't go after our tax dollars in the first place .. it's a warm/fuzzy idea to 'help', but you're taking my dollars and supposing a solution to which you have no idea what you're doing. stop it please ;)

[DanBC]

My state provides extensive education and training to some people, so they can become doctors.

My state provides hospitals and funding for treatment.

Imagine a person with full thickness burns to 75% of their body - "Why are ppl so apt to think that state employees are miracle workers?" - because they've been educated, trained, and provisioned to provide the help that other people need.

[acroyear]

are you making an argument for state-employees, or just anyone that gets this type of training? you're off point - I'm saying that you can't look to the state +first+ for your family's needs - it is important to take a primary stake in your own well-being.

btw, ask the folks affected by Katrina how they would rate the training of all the emergency response state employees .. probably not so good. My point is : don't rely on these ppl.

[DanBC]

> it is important to take a primary stake in your own well-being.

How does this translate into care for a severe, long term, mental health problem where the patient is non-compliant with medication?