Julie and Steve Bailey

Chapel Hill, NC These are my friends Julie and Steve Bailey. They took on the challenging task of adopting three beautiful brothers from foster care in 1996. After the adoption, they discovered all three of the children suffered from mental health issues, as well as learning disabilities which resulted in Steve and Julie becoming their greatest advocates. Luckily, the boys came with Medicaid since they were considered special needs adoptions, but when Josh, the oldest, turned 18, he lost that coverage. As the parents of a young adult, the Baileys had no legal standing or say in Josh's life. They were not included in treatment team meetings or decisions any longer despite Josh having given them his Power of Attorney. It was not enough 'power' and their input was ignored by treatment providers and UNC Hospital when he required hospitalizations. Over the course of a year Josh went off his medications, began self-medicating, and a year later walked away from his residential program. In July 2008, Josh was murdered by six acquaintances. The Baileys believe that Josh's mental illness, compounded by a learning disability, affected his judgment and made him vulnerable to this crime.

Even before Josh's murder, Julie had turned the knowledge and experience she gained as the parent of these three guys to good use by becoming a family advocate working in mental health. The day the family filed a missing person's report for Josh, Julie was with me as a parent advocate at my child's treatment team meeting. She never said a word about their fears, though she must have been frantic with worry. She continues to work as an advocate for those with mental illness, presently serving as Associate Director and Interim Executive Director for Mental Health America of the Triangle, where Steve also works part-time.

Julie and Steve knew that young adults at transition times are very vulnerable. For many young adults ages 18-26, there is often a sense of denial about their illness or too much stigma for them to be motivated to seek treatment. Others have aged out of Medicaid or their parents' insurance. Parents are often exhausted by this age and some give up completely when the child becomes a legal adult because the system removes all of their authority while the child's problems escalate. This population has a high rate of self-medicating and can often be compliant resistant to do the right thing, which only causes more problems. The Baileys learned that the treatment system is not very forgiving of this age population and programs are quick to turn them out when they can't comply with rules. Having treatment options that are directed at this demographic is critical, yet few exist. In hope of helping other young people with mental health conditions during these crucial transition times, the Baileys, along with family members and friends, formed Josh's Hope Foundation, Inc., (www.joshshopefoundation.org). The lengthy process to organize began when Josh's godmother, Lynn Giddens, and her son Devin suggested a walk in Josh's memory in 2009, following Steve's development of the website www.justiceforjosh.org. From there it progressed to a federal tax exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization approved in 2010.

The mission of Josh's Hope Foundation is twofold:

•To promote public awareness and education on issues and needs of transitioning young adults with mental illness or mental illness with substance abuse;

•To raise funds that benefit treatment programs, services and supports specific to this population

As part of their fundraising efforts, Josh's Hope Foundation has held annual walks, the Walk With Purpose for Josh's Hope. I walked the second one in 2010. The walks and other events have raised approximately $35,000, no small change for a grassroots organization without paid staff. Two grants have been funded, to Club Nova in Carrboro and to Carolina Outreach in Durham, to provide programming and transitional services for young adults with mental illness.

Although the walk last year was not held because of the anticipated (but postponed) trials, the Bailey's have high hopes for the organization and what it can accomplish. Julie says, Steve and I - as well as our board - continue to dream big for JHF. We eventually want to see a program in our community that does a good job at engaging the 18 to 26 year old transitioning population with mental health conditions or dual diagnoses by providing training - a trade school type of program - which will give these kids real skills so they can find employment - and some options for housing support, as well as day treatment to support their mental health needs. On top of that we continue to work with parents of kids in this population so they will understand all they need to do to support and prepare the young adults for independent living. I know for us, when Josh turned 18, we had no clue what to do. We did not know how instantaneously the system of services changes on the 18th birthday so we weren't proactive for Josh. But we learned from our mistakes and were definitely proactive for our other two boys. Unfortunately, there's just not a lot of choices out there which means fewer options to really help this population. We want JHF to work with community stakeholders and to create more options, as well as motivate parents to be proactive before a kid's 18th birthday so they aren't caught off-guard with the changes in services.

What can you do to help? Donations of money are always appreciated and will be used to fund programs that can work with these young adults. You can also create job opportunities by hiring young mentally ill adults to work at your business. At Just Right Academy, our cleaning is done by people in this population. Another way to help is to become a COMPEER, a volunteer with Mental Health America of the Triangle and give the gift of friendship to a young adult with serious mental illness. If you visit the organization's website at www.joshshopefoundation.org, there are several opportunities to help and some don't even require the direct outlay of a financial contribution.

I asked Julie if JHF had helped ease the pain of Josh's death. She answered, some days it helps tremendously, knowing that something we're doing will make a difference in the life of a transitioning young adult and their family members. Those days come when I get a phone call or email from a parent whose child is in this population and they reconnect to tell me that something we suggested helped their son or daughter. It gives me hope that we really can change the future for these kids. But then there are days when nothing helps me and I succumb to the emotions over having lost Josh. I miss him and the reality of that loss is sometimes emotionally overwhelming.

Six young adults murdered Josh and there were three accomplices charged as accessories. The horror of what happened hasn't yet played out in the courtroom but the Baileys anticipate trials to begin in March. Nothing will make sense of Josh's death. There IS no meaning in this tragedy and there is no real justice to be had here. But there is grace and for that, I'm grateful. When my child with mental illness reaches 18, I hope there will be programs available for her. If there are, Steve and Julie will be among those to thank.