Obviously I cant claim to have communicated with every person out there or have heard of every behavior but I personally dont think that Ive ever seen someone actually go off for “no reason”. “No reason” usually means staff instigated it and is covering or you will connect it with something eventually in retrospect.
Many times, especially with someone that doesnt communicate well, there is a “known trigger” that isnt really a trigger. It has been identified previously as something close to or related to the actual trigger but isnt quite right and then with correction to the program the mysterious explosions arent so mysterious anymore.
Factually at least 99% of those involved in that entire industry are lying to you. The government always lies, too much money and corruption. The staff always lie, either because the sub 85 IQ people that they tend to hire at entry level dont know any better or think they can do whatever they want and swag their way out of it by being abusive. The service providers arent going to admit that their staff is useless and causes much of the problems through abuse and refusal to do their job. The counselors are all leftists or cover up for the leftist in the profession. Often times the guardians, even the professional ones, are FAR crazier and more irresponsible than the person that was placed and instigate so many of these things that you hear about in the news (This is one place that we know the solution, switch enforced placement between guardian and client.)
“Institutions” are/were bad and unions have only made it worse. There does need to be an adjustment made in the number of beds available to the state for placement and changes made to who has to stay.
For example, your state only has 200 beds available at the hospital for those needing the most significant help. 199 beds are full and three peoples court cases ended today with the judges sending those people in for treatment. The physicians down at the hospital have to decide who seems the most likely to be able to successfully move out to a residential service provider and kicks them out to make room.
Sometimes they guess wrong. Sometimes the guardians stick their nose in and blows the placement up. Sometimes they do get successfully placed just for some loser that wants to watch a basketball game instead of doing his job to instigate things so bad that the person has to go back. Now the physician has to start all over, “Hmmm, which one of these 200 is least likely to go to their hometown and punch infants...”
We certainly could expand the whole thing on the government end but that would sky rocket taxes and result in even worse treatment and outcomes for most of those placed. Where do we set the tax dial and how much officially sanctioned union protected abuse do we allow?
The often abusive private way that no one will tell you the truth about is actually probably the best we have and I think most of the clients would say so. The interference from bleeding hearts and the corrupt will keep anyone focused on the well being of the clients from spending a lifetime actually helping anyone to achieve the best possible outcomes but its all we have.
Clearly, you have had much experience in this area. As desperate as I’ve ever been for a job, I’ve always avoided this kind of work, even though the adult-care programs seem to be hiring all the time. Many people with these disabilities are sweet-natured, and they have far more to fear from the “normal” people. But, based on personal experience, I know of the difficulties in helping grown people who are forever children, so I’ve never applied for those jobs.
Of course, you make a good point that the number of beds is finite and expanded treatment would cost much more money. But, would it really cost much more if, instead of dispersing people into many different houses (group homes), each state housed them in a smaller number of larger places? Especially the people with behavioral problems. Just like group homes, people would learn to live together, do chores, and so on in these places. But, they wouldn’t have to enroll in special ed programs at a school. More importantly, their doctors would be right there on the premises and have more oversight.
I used to take a bus route that had a stop at a mental institution. The bus would wind through the leafy grounds, and although no one would want to end up there, it didn’t look like a bad place.