[Transcript of, "Johnny’s & Megan’s Story: A Call for Reforming the Mental Health Care System", produced by Rooted in Rights]

MEGAN: When we met it was pretty much

I would say love at first sight.

JOHNNY: I can't imagine ever being with anyone else.

You know, I mean
my heart and soul is with Megan.

MEGAN: When he was arrested
it was the first time that we were away

for longer than a couple days.

That experience was, was hard,
him being taken away from us.

JOHNNY:  I've been dealing with mental health
most of my life.

I used to just go into a room

and pull the blanket over my head.

Didn't want to be around anybody.

I was paranoid of everybody and everything.

Dealt with that for years.

Then I met Megan.

We have our two kids

and I was pretty fine for a while.

And then I just kind of relapsed.

MEGAN: Probably about a week before the arrest

we started noticing -

- Johnny being more agitated.

On the Friday, July 21st,

that was the worst day.

The first time the police were called,

they came out
and Johnny talked to them,

and they're like, "Well it's not against the law
to be mentally ill,

we can't do anything
until he does something."

They gave us the number for the mobile crisis

and on there it said,

"Only available
Monday Tuesday and Thursdays,"

and this was a Friday,

so I'm like, "Great!"

When they called the crisis line

they said, "Well,"

then basically the same thing that police said,

"There's nothing that we can do

until something happens,

we need him to call."

We were left to deal with it on our own.

The police were called a second time on Friday,

and I thought because
they had noticed his mental illness

and they knew what was going on
when he was arrested

that he would be immediately evaluated,

he'd be given the services
that he needed,

and that just didn't happen.

JOHNNY: They didn't even take me,

they didn't even take me to - 
for a mental evaluation,

they took me straight to jail.

MEGAN: He was in jail for two months.

He was so far into a psychosis

that he was refusing his medications.

JOHNNY: It was just horrifying,

just being locked up in a place,

and no familiar faces,

I'm already paranoid you know,

and thinking people out to get me and stuff,

and they put me in jail?

MEGAN: Within 24 hours of his arrest.

I was researching.

I found an article in The Seattle Times

about Trueblood.

[AUDIO DESCRIPTION]: A headline from the Seattle Times reads, "Rights group, state reach settlement in competency lawsuit."

MEGAN: I read that and I was just floored,

I couldn't believe it,

that this was something -

- that was going on for years,

and I was like, "I need to do
whatever I need to do,

I need to get in contact
with Disability Rights Washington,

I need to find out how I can fix this."

I think having mobile treatment 24/7,

I mean, 'cause that's what it's supposed to be.

If it's mobile.

it's supposed to be something
that can be available 24/7,

and you'd, you know,
people don't have to travel,

that would have made a huge difference.

JOHNNY: When you're in a crisis like that,

at least in personal experiences,

you're not gonna trust any police officer

or anyone who looks like they're from,

you know, a government agency or whatever,

'cause that's usually
the first thing you start thinking,

is that the government is out to get you,

and if they do show up,

it would be better if you had
an advocate there with them.

MEGAN: Having educated first responders

that know how to address mental illness
when they see it

and know what to do

and how to communicate with that person

in a way that doesn't escalate the situation

and make it worse,

I mean it just seems simple to me.

When he was released,
when he walked out,

it was awesome.
[laughs]

It was really awesome.

JOHNNY: And then my kids were in school

when I got home

so I was able to surprise them.

I was sitting in their room,

they came in the door,

and my youngest one was in,
was here first,

and he came in and he,
he said, "Daddy!"

he gave me a hug,
we cried together and,

and then my other one came in

the older one, JJ,

and he came in

and he tackled me
on the bed pretty much and-

- we hugged and he looked at me

and he's not, he's not quite as the emotional type

as all of the other ones,

so JJ's looking at me and he's like,

"I feel like I'm gonna cry, Dad,"
[chuckles]

and I said, "That's okay,
you can cry if you wanna cry, I'm crying."

MEGAN: Doesn't just affect the inmate, you know,

and mentally ill people
have families that love them

and have kids and have homes.

JOHNNY: It's not all about me anymore,

you know, I have a wife and kids
to take care of.

I gotta, I gotta be stable enough to do so.

No sick person should ever end up in jail.

That should be the last place
they should end up,

you know, is in jail.

MEGAN: I don't want anyone else to go through
what I went through,

and what my
husband went through in jail,

and what my kids went through
not having their dad around.

It almost destroyed our family,

what we went through,

so I just don't want that
to happen to anyone else.

[End of transcript]