Carolyn Cooper
Mother and Consumer Advocate

Carolyn Cooper's son, Titus Kwame, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he had learning disabilities. He died at the age of 22. Throughout his adolescence, Cooper fought to get her son services, including appealing to the state government to provide her son with an Individualized Education Program plan while he was in custody of the criminal justice system. Cooper founded United Advocates for Children of California to help other families navigate treatment for loved ones.

I was in a serious accident when I was pregnant, and my son, prematurely born, had a lot of problems. He was first diagnosed with hyperactivity during the 1970s when they didn't even know about ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder]. In school, he was denied services, even until the point I saw some mental health issues--he was depressed, had mood swings, and was crying all the time. In middle school, he was sent to juvenile hall, after his brother turned him in for stealing my car, and by then, it was almost too late.

In juvenile hall, he attempted suicide, and after he was released, Kwame was hospitalized for a year and a half, where he did well. But when he lost the support, he quickly wound up back in the juvenile justice system. It was a revolving door, and he eventually ended up in Folsom State Prison. A year out of Folsom, he was shot and killed.

The story of Kwame's life, I can see it with so many other kids ... and if they don't get the help they need by the end of elementary school, juvenile hall is the next setting. My family, they geared away from any mental health care--even his dad would say, "Let him stay with me." And once my son committed a crime, the family was totally against him, and I felt like I was a lonely soldier fighting for him.

For a long time, I was angry at the court system, the judge and his knowledge--I was never there to justify a crime, I just wanted my son to get the services he needed. And I was angry at the school system before that. But my anger built into courage to get something done. When I am in trainings, that's what I tell parents, "It's going to be a rough road, and you've got to find the courage."

E-mail Carolyn Cooper at familiesplus@attbi.com.

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