The family of 28-year-old Irvo Otieno, who died while in the custody of a Virginia mental health facility, speaks out after having viewed the tape of the fatal incident. CNN's Brian Todd reports. #CNN #News
Irvo Otieno’s family reacts to seeing tape of fatal incident: He was treated worse than a dog
Everybodys acting brand new. Mental Health facilities are horrific here in America. One reason for it is the States will not pay qualified people to work in them. Dealing with mentally ill people is extremely challenging. Caregivers need to be highly trained and educated to be effective at helping their patients to get better. Instead, they hire anyone with a little certificate that takes 40 hours of instruction to receive. Patients are and always have been mistreated and victimized. The news just never covered it. Thank God that is starting to change. This brave mother is an inspiration for families who cope with these difficult situations.
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I agree. I worked in behavioral health, so I can attest to what you stated. States don’t even have much involvement, with the exception of state hospitals. They contract out mental health services to insurance companies now, who contract with mostly for-profit mental health and addiction treatment clinics and hospitals, so it’s their policy to pay their employees as little as possible. Nurses and master level social workers are paid decently. They hire more psychiatric NPs over psychiatrists, as they can pay them less, although most are way better than most psychiatrists.
But these workers spend the least amount of time working with clients, both in- and out-patient. What people should know is that the workers who will spend the most time with their loved ones in mental health and substance abuse treatment, are usually individuals with just a HS diploma or GED with that 40 hour behavioral health technician “certificate” training. That training consists of going over state and federal laws that affect behavioral healthcare, first aid/CPR training, as well as training on how to safely physically subdue a patient, but there’s very little training on rehabilitation and recovery concepts. Some states may require additional training in peer support or recovery coaching, which is generally completed within 2-4 weeks. No bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology or behavioral health is required, and neither is national certification required for Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP). Hence, the quality of services tend to be fair, at best, and the process of getting a loved one treatment often results in a traumatic experience, which basically ends up worsening their condition as the years ago by, compared to when they first reached out for help.
Our society is largely to blame for this, due to the stigma placed on mental illness, so even when people demand that mental health services should be improved, they subconsciously stereotype the mentality ill and thus, they never make mental health services a priority for funding. So, they vote for political candidates who also don’t prioritize it. And most Republicans don’t want mental health funded a dime. Most in power believe that people with a serious mental illness should figure it out, and if they break the law, they can be kept in prison. Keep in mind that there’s no such thing as stock investment opportunities in behavioral healthcare, like there are in the prison industrial complex.
@Bean Season I’m sorry that you were mistreated in that way. Unfortunately, your experience during in-patient is all too common. It’s also why people who need help badly, won’t reach out. They’ve heard the horror stories.
@Mopar3188 Yes
They are describing the behavior of a man needing mental health care using the same language they would use for a felon. That may be the crux of the problem in situations like this. They need different language that leads to a different conclusion.
☝☝join this platform its very profitable
He got caught breaking into a house🤣
That different language costs more money to fund, like properly educated and trained employees. Also, hospital staff are trained both in how to redirect situations with patients, and physically subduing them. So, there’s no reason for staff to call the police, unless they were severely understaffed or have undertrained staff, which I wouldn’t be surprised to hear.
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@BlueAnons are Dumb He just needed a quick counseling session while he climbed thru the window.
🕊️”May Justice be Served for the Family”🕊️.
So much work to do!! All over and everyone has something to do! Not just be a landlord
Never call the cops for help if you’re a victim, chances are you will be victimized. I’ve seen it.
I agree. I’ve seen it happen also… to myself. What the cops did to me was way worse than the incident that required me to call them for “help”. Evidently the perpetrator was one of their “good ole boys”.
I’ve seen it, and I’ve been a victim of it, while being a victim of DV.
Victim and Race Cards are being recalled for abuse of the priveledge of excessive use.
I got put in a mental hospital for 11 months. The things I have seen I wish upon no one. Please try to help your friends and family in any way you can. The mental hospitals are the worst place in the world. I feel for this family I hope justice is served .
Is that you Joe Biden?
I’m sorry that you had to experience what you did, and for so long. Sadly, you are correct about the poor quality of services at mental hospitals.
I can’t even imagine how traumatized this event left the patients who were residing in the same wing as this man.
@rolback No, it’s not. But the person you are looking for is actually Dementia Don.
How many people heard he was arrested when police responded to a burglary call from the next door neighbor? Id like to know if he was robbing the house and if he has a violent history towards police and medical staff before condemning several law abiding men and women to prison. Its a tough job dealing with people who are violent and out of control. I don’t believe everyone is a victim
Dude any medical professional knows that it takes less than 5 minutes for someone to die from asphyxiation and before that you pass put. They were on him for 12 WHOLE minutes including after he passed out and stopped moving. Despite being in handcuffs and with leg restraints on. They was so many things they could have done, if they did nothing wrong why did they try to cover it up?
R.I.P. Irvo Otieno
Just want to make the point that to die from asphyxiation takes about 5 minutes. And you pass out before that for a good minute. So they managed to stoy on him for 12 minutes. Despite him passing out and way after he died
My condolences 💐
Why were there even LEOs at the hospital when it’s not their job to subdue hostile patients? A lot of people who are to be involuntarily evaluated for mental health treatment, get upset and unruly. I worked in behavioral health for years, and never heard of such a thing. Hospital staff are trained properly with how to subdue a patient without injuring them. If staff had to call the police, then it was likely due to the hospital being severely understaffed and over patient quota, so to maximize hospital profits.
Either way, I hope his family receives the Justice that they deserve. Poor guy. 😥
When I went to a mental hospital they gave me the run around when I tried to get discharged. So I got a lawyer
I have a friend who is a traveling nurse. He has been hired to go where he is needed. He said that these mental institutions are the worse places on earth. The patients are treated horribly and violently and he refuses to work there. I have worked with the mentally I’ll and it is a tough job, it requires large amounts of patience and empathy. It is exhausting on the mind. If you can’t handle the pressure of a job like this, you should never be there! There should be cameras to catch any mistreatment of these poor people who have no control over their actions. It is a heart breaking place to be.
I’ve been in one of these facilities. I understand the people who work with people who act like animals
Why weren’t the family ever went to go see him and he fought the staff
Those people are finished. Any compensation they receive will be nothing compared to his torture
This crap has got to stop. This man, this human, was nothing to the police, but he was everything to his family. He was his mama’s baby. Now this mama has to live forever with the images of her baby being abused and murdered in her mind. Please pray for her.
Wtf when you can’t honor George with taking a knee anymore
WE NEED MENTAL HEALTH, WE NEED COPS, WE NEED BETTER PEOPLE ELECTED AS MAYOR.
Rest In Peace, buddy… I’m sorry.