It was a night of complete shock for the Fife family. Their beloved, Randall Fife, struggled for years with mental health issues and, on the night of August 22, was shot and killed after a confrontation with police.

“They blew the door down and they ran in and I heard them say ‘officer hit! officer hit,'” said Kerri Fife, Randall’s mother. “Then it just…I said, oh, they just killed your brother,” she said.

This was the result of an episode Randall was experiencing, thinking his family were impostors and pointing a gun at them. Kerri sought help for years trying to get him into different psychiatric hospitals.

“They detain him for about three days because it’s the law, then they send him back…good or not,” Kerri said.

At one point, Randall left a message for his mother while in a mental institution during another episode he was experiencing:

“Hey mom, there’s a bunch of people here that want to kill me. They’re going to make it look like a riot and then they’re going to make it look like I killed myself and they’re about to kill me. It’s just that I wanted to let you know that I love you. Alright, goodbye.

A few days later, they released him.

It was like a revolving door. Ohio no longer houses the mentally ill as it once did. So when psychiatric facilities like Woodside Hospital closed in 1996, this lack of care created a gap in the system.

“We have nowhere to commit individuals long-term,” said Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert Rusu. “That’s just the situation in Ohio. It’s extremely expensive to do hospitalization,” he said.

While there are mental health resources, there aren’t many for someone who is resistant to treatment. Kerri says her son didn’t want help – and because he’s an adult and has never been diagnosed as “incompetent,” he wasn’t forced to get it. So what can be done?

“A person can sit down with Judge Rusu’s staff and they will walk them through the steps to see if they qualify for some type of guardianship or protective services,” said Duane Piccarelli, director of the mental health board and Recovery of Mahoning County.

This means having a designated person legally responsible for a person’s care, who is incapable of managing their own affairs. But Judge Rusu says even that would not have been an option in this case.

“This does not solve any problem because the individual retains his or her own autonomy,” Judge Rusu said. “If they don’t want treatment and help, no guardian can force that on them,” he said.

Judge Rusu believes his Fresh Start program could be the way forward.

“We see them every two weeks, we see how they’re doing, their case manager comes in with them, we talk about it and we try to make them understand why it’s important to stay healthy and continue taking their medications for mental health.”, Judge Rusu said.

The process begins with an Affidavit of Mental Illness, listing examples that meet program eligibility criteria, and then a court hearing will take place.

“The Mental Health and Recovery Board, we provide expert testimony, we provide an expert witness so that person meets with the client,” said Michelle Werth, clinical director of the County of Mental Health and Recovery Board. Mahoning.

After hearing their testimony, Judge Rusu decides whether the client has a place in the program.

So far, 140 people have been enrolled in this program and of them, 113 have successfully completed it. There were 15 who needed to be reinstated and the rest are still listed.

This is a program available to anyone age 18 and older, and you can find details on how to sign up by contacting the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board or the Probate Court of Mahoning County.