Started well but seems like she is after this one company.

Incredible reporting by Erica Stapleton!

Such a sad reality we live in. My heart just aches for these individuals who slip through the cracks, including the young man who committed the murder. I think the State should have been held 100% accountable in this care. This is a growing problem in our Country and our Government is too busy pointing fingers to actually work on the problem.

Great podcast. Looking forward to more episodes in the future. It’s sad the way our country is non supportive of people with mental health disorders. Too many people “fall through the cracks” as they say and I hope this brings to light some of the challenges people with mental health disorders go through and why they may not seek out help when they really need to. I myself have a mental health disorder and I get really frustrated and discouraged when I feel myself going down hill and my providers don’t listen to me and just keep rolling with the same medications with no suggestions for changing.

This podcast is a start, but it doesn’t hit all the layers of “what do we do?” With regard to mental health. People with mental illness take up more resource than people without. Does that make those diagnosed with a MI less worthy of treatment? The agencies that provide services are always going to be liable because mental illness is chronic, persistent and in some cases severe. A good stretch from 1983-1987 does not guarantee a good stretch at any other time. Treating mental health is a lot of trial and error… trying to replicate what worked over a lifetime so a person can “meet treatment goals”. The way life ebbs and flows can impact a person’s ability to cope— add in symptoms, medication side effects, interpersonal relationships and sometimes it seems like a miracle we are upright. The people making money in MH are the CEOs of non-profits and administrators. The ones working on the line are generally underpaid, under-trained, and subject to mistreatment. So they move on when they can, opening a spot for the next one who will also feel in over his/her head. They generally mean well though, and most of us would be hard-pressed to find a way to do better given the resources present. The owners of the group home are an easy target since they take on nearly all the liability of housing someone who is severely mentally ill. Look deeper to learn how expensive it is to be chronically mentally ill. No one wants to bear the burden of this because it plays out in a lifelong path of harm, institutions and treatments that don’t help. If you are unfortunate enough to own a MH diagnosis that has resulted in inconvenience to the community or harm against others, get ready for a long road of stigma, shaming, and exasperation that you exist and take up space and resource in the world. I know of a group home right now that houses 5 severely symptomatic males, all over 6 feet tall. They were placed there by a non-profit and they have weekly meetings with a case manager and other members of the treatment team. They all wrestle with issues, but sometimes they steal each other’s food or leave pee on the toilet seat. I shudder to think what will happen if someone is having a bad day and snaps because someone forgot to take their clothes out of the dryer. The men don’t necessarily know each other and might not choose to live together, but since they can’t afford rent anywhere else, this is better than being on the street during winter. One or more of the men might forget to take his meds or might take some street drugs to dull the voices. What about the voices telling one of them to leave the soup on the stove all night and accidentally burning the house down? The possibilities are endless. There are no easy answers.

There is so much to say to follow up on the ‘cracks’ and ‘gaps’ of mental health care. I’ve ran residential programs and have been held under state licensing and regulations . There is so much more there regarding staffing and regulations.

As a mental health professional, this was such a wonderful listen. The system is broken and I hope there’s more to come from Erica and her team!

The host is excellent. She tells the story very well. This is a topic that needs to be brought to light. Great job

It’s been said by others that the ultimate injustice was letting Christopher Lambeth out of the hospital, not pointing the finger at the group home. I think some of the reviewers are under the impression the host is simply stigmatizing mental illness, but I think it’s simply a lack of understanding. ASH has been under the microscope for a long time. This story speaks to a larger problem that occurs all across the country. As the psychiatrist said at the end, to paraphrase, some patients should not be released into the community when they are DTO/DTS. I’ve worked as an RN in nearly every setting in Arizona, from involuntary to forensic at ASH to standard “voluntary” inpatient. It’s the same at all the hospitals. Low staffing is the name of the game. Saving money at the expense of others is how things work in healthcare. It’s apparent in medical settings, but psychiatric facilities really lowball their staffing by huge margins. I know for a fact that all group homes are understaffed and poorly equipped to handle mental disorders. It always amazes me when people assume the system is broken, yet they have no real ideas to make it better. In some cases, these failures cannot be fixed…period. Medications do not prevent violent behaviors, therapy is also ineffective at times, and no one can predict adverse outcomes related to mental health. It certainly sounds like Lambeth suffered from impulsive violence and less psychotic or predatory forms. Impulsive violence is most common, followed by predatory then psychotic. Psychotic makes up about 17% is all. This guy knew what he was doing. He should have been locked up indefinitely.

I used to work at a 24hr supervision group home in MA, and I left shortly after this case came into the news. We need more regulations and we need better training, or we’re due for a new crisis

Erica is a gifted and careful journalist.

THIS is why the US needs a complete overhaul of the mental health system. I know Mr. Lambeth is sick, but based on his behavior, I don’t think he needs to be anywhere but a locked facility AKA PRISON.

I had to stop listening to this bc the reporter is clearly using fear mongering and sensationalization to tell a story. In one episode, she emphasized how a nurse practitioner was the treater and not a doctor. This is the nature of health care as a whole! Does not mean the NP is not capable of providing that care! In another, she mentioned how the group home staff was a high school grad and another had a college major not in behavioral health. Again this is common all over the country. They probably didn’t make more than $30k a year. What do you expect in terms of qualified candidates? What is your solution to all of this? The main issue is that Christopher Lambeth should have been institutionalized for the rest of his life for killing his grandparents. The group home workers did the best that they could.

This podcast series highlights a clear need for change in Arizona.

There are so many glaring issues that I as master’s level mental health provider for over 10 years who has worked in forensic psychiatric settings can see. The reporter does not use precise language and instead uses stigmatizing terms. For example, she continually stated and echos the shock & horror of the neighbors by saying “a convicted murdered” lives down the street. However, Chris was found Guilty EXCEPT FOR insanity. In other states it’s called not guilty by reason of insanity. Therefore, he’s not a convicted murdered; rather, his case was adjucticated and he was declared GEI. It’s also annoying that Erica just buys into and doesn’t challenge the neighbors complaints about not knowing a murderer lived nearby. If she'd been able to keep her bias in check, she might have asked the neighbor if any other murderers lived nearby. Because the truth is, none of us know the criminal history of all our neighbors. Also, Erica makes a big deal about only a few states using PSRBs. Yes, it’s true that only a few states call it PSRB. But other states have insanity pleas and people to be supervised. And who are the supervisors? Judges with no background in mental health disorders & treatment. And as a licensed social worker who has accompanied patients at many of those status hearings that are almost identical to the hearings she describes in the podcast, I can tell you this is nothing out of the ordinary. Except that in the state I did this, the judge knew nothing about mental health and would simply take the word of the treatment team. There ARE real problems with group homes and lack of funding and capitalistic greed lead to privatization, incentives to run the homes as cheaply as possible (and hiring the cheapest rather than the most qualified labor) and lack of oversight only contribute to making the community less safe. Ultimately, I just really wish this story had been told by a more capable report who spent more time understanding the nature of the systems at work rather than going with the lazy NIMBY narrative. It was such a great opportunity missed to bring light to an issue that is important and worthy without being so stigmatizing and supportive of just locking people with mental illness up forever if a chance exists a human could harm another human. It’s easy to otherize and distance ourselves from people with severe, persistent mental illness by deeming them POTENTIALLY unsafe but don’t we all have the potential to harm someone? Where does it stop and why is one group redeemable and another not?

This podcast is so useless! I have never given a bad review I normally just turn off ones I don’t like but this one infuriated me! She has no idea about mental help! She uses diagnoses to incite fear! One part said a patient with bipolar disorder went missing in a neighborhood, like that should strike fear in the hearts of the people living in the neighborhood where the group home is located. She is shocked that there are fights and self harm in a home that houses people with severe mental disorders!? Then you got Lisa who is so upset that she had to take her 300lb violent son who broke her arm to a dr appointment for a rash??? The entitlement from that awful lady! She was devastated that her son was housed with a murderer when it sounds like he almost killed her? I could say that I wouldn’t want someone who broke his mothers arm in my neighborhood. This is so ridiculous it should have never been released. Educate yourself on mental illness before you talk about it on a public form!

Be mad at the system/our country’s attitude towards mental health—not the caretakers. You say it yourself.. there’s not a lot of places these people can go.

I was interested in the case after hearing the podcast trailer, and I expected some sensationalizing and fear-mongering. Unfortunately, I found it to be at the expense of mentally ill individuals. The podcast has a “mental illness is dangerous” undertone throughout, despite short attempts at caveats on the vulnerability of this population. The episode that ultimately caused me to unsubscribe uses interviews with neighbors of the group home that basically boil down to “Oh no! There are people with schizophrenia, bipolar, and suicidal ideation among the rest of us normal people! Won’t anyone think of the children?!” Yes, group homes need improvement. Mental health care needs improvement. Casting all people with mental illness as menaces to the peace and safety of a community is not the way to do that. This one individual should not have been unsupervised. That was a failing of the system. But that isn’t an excuse for lending credence to the idea that mentally ill pose a threat and should be feared, instead of insisting on their need for more adequate care. The other residents of the group home needed protection from the offender, too. They are victims here, as well. But they all get painted with the same brush of “scary, unhinged, and dangerous”. Ultimately, I’m disappointed in this podcast for furthering mental health stigma with its lack of nuance and empathy.

This podcast creates unfounded fear and NIMBY. It places blames on the group home providers who I do not agree are the route of the issue and are some of our only community mental health options for our neighbors who are mentally I’ll since Reagan closed down our mental health inpatient facilities. It creates fear of people who are mentally. I’m just horrified and disgusted.

People don’t recognize that felons could leave prison and buy a home in their neighborhood, but heaven forbid a group home move in. It’s giving so much space to NIMBY neighbors who really don’t need more ground to speak than they already have. So gross. Additionally, they treat calls to 9-1-1 calls for mental health and other minor issues as criminal behavior. Close the group homes and these people still are in your community. We don’t institutionalize people anymore so you close the group homes and you get tent cities. Take your pick, neither is perfect but one is clearly preferable until more supportive service are provided at a reasonable cost. People are so judgmental and disappointing.

Just finished this weeks episode, which I half expected to end like that scene in Beauty and the Beast when the town mob goes to get the Beast. Gross.

Three words describe your podcast: sobering, powerful, scary. Thank you for drawing attention to a tragic problem that I did not realize even existed. Keep up your great work.

There is so much more to this story than what lies on the surface. One of the better True Crime podcasts out there

I like the podcast & information, the recreated audio is terrible

This is a fantastic story. I am impressed with the top notch journalist who is working on this story. I am ready to hear more.

Not sure how I stumbled upon this podcast, but the research, reporting, and presentation are absolutely top notch.

Every single episode available, when played. Plays Armchair Expert. Which is so confusing because they’re only on Spotify and I’m listening on apple podcast. Would like to listen to this when it gets fixed.

A nurse practitioner or a physician assistant is completely capable of handling their own patients and actually take more time than the actual MD. Also, the fact the NP said she didn’t want to take him off— was clearly the better decision vs the “actual doctor” —A Psychiatric Physician Assistant

This is interesting but oh my god, the recreated audio is HORRIBLE. Where did you find these voice actors, Goodwill? It’s taking away from the show. Makes me want to turn it off.

Annoying that it was said patient was rx'd meds by a NP NOT a MD, the indication being they are a lesser clinician. The host should educate themselves on the roles of these providers versus make a generalization like NPs are lesser providers, very annoying

Being from AZ, little familiar with the basics of this story, this podcast is well put together. Love the voice of the podcaster!

This is a terribly sad story. The host does an excellent job.

A must listen, bingeworthy podcast !

This first episode was well researched and delivered. Bravo, Erica! Can’t wait to hear more.

Enjoy the first episode, wish I didn’t have to wait for the second!

I followed this story when it happened locally and they’ve done a fabulous job going deeper and putting all the daily stories into a gripping narrative.

This first episode was well put together and I found it really awesome. I can’t wait to hear more about this case

The first episode is well-researched with good interviews. The cliffhanger at the end got me. I can’t wait for the next episode!

Enjoyed the first episode, Erica is great!

Only one episode in and I’m hooked! This is my new favorite podcast.

Having family who have been in the mental health system and even in group homes, I do want to know that those systems are working to help. My heart goes out to the families caught up in this tragedy and I hope shining a spotlight on this issue will help get some resources and oversight to help. Glad this story is out there and nice job, Erica!

KPNX does a fabulous job and I am very excited to hear this series. Erica Stapleton is a trustworthy, engaging reporter and I am thrilled to be able to listen to her storytelling through another avenue.

Always been a fan of KPNX, excited to see what they will come up with this time.

Trailer sounds intriguing. Excited to listen to this series.