Released after two years of locked psychiatric care: A battle few families can fight
LOS ANGELES -- Once again, he was in the psychiatric ward of L.A. County jail, the last stage in a repeated cycle that had led from a promising new start to creeping irrationality or a sudden break from reality, then homelessness, then arrest for trespass or disorderly conduct or public indecency.
It was 2021. After 15 years of futility, unable to reach through the cloud that enveloped him and let down by a mental health system that could do no better, his brothers and sisters shared their experiences with The Times, knowing so many others were going through the same recurring nightmare.
The story, published that November, left John Maurer facing a hopeful but uncertain future. Stories like his don't really end.
But now, after two years of dogged work by his sister Sarah Dusseault and a team of mental health advocates, Maurer's has taken the best possible turn. On Valentine's Day, he checked out of
