- Category: Crisis Response, Discharged Without a Safe Plan — Hospital, Refusal Treated as Capacity
- Tag(s): Severe Deterioration
- NC
Two letters have been included although many others have been written! My son is the worst he has ever been in his life and it is under the hands of a government entity- Parole!
From: Donovan Boswell
Date: June 1, 2026 at 11:28:40 PM CDT
To: Vicente Sarmiento , Vicente.Sarmiento@ocgov.com, Katrina.Foley@ocgov.com
Subject: Fwd: URGENT: Gravely Disabled Mentally Ill Parolee Incarcerated at Central Men’s Jail – LPS Action Needed
Second request!
Subject: URGENT: Gravely Disabled Mentally Ill Parolee Incarcerated at Central Men’s Jail – LPS Action Needed
I am the mother of Alexander Reese Boswell-Valenzuela (DOB 02/15/1994), who is currently incarcerated at Orange County Central Men’s Jail.
Booking Number: 3413065
Arresting City: Santa Ana, CA
Date of Incarceration: 05/29/2026
Since his release on parole in July 2025, my son has:
- Remained homeless
- Remained un medicated for schizoaffective disorder
- Continued methamphetamine use
- Lost over 30 +pounds
- Been arrested at least 7 times
- Refused psychiatric medication due to lack of insight into his mental illness
- Been repeatedly released to the street with no shelter or treatment- this will be at least 7 times total!!!
I have repeatedly requested mental health placement, parole coordination, and LPS conservatorship evaluation due to grave disability. These requests have been ignored or declined.
Less restrictive alternatives have clearly failed.
I previously attempted to submit documentation to jail court and was rejected due to lack of a case number — despite not having access to booking information at the time.
Now that he is incarcerated, I am urgently requesting County intervention to ensure:
1. Immediate psychiatric evaluation while in custody
2. Formal documentation of grave disability
3. Referral to the Orange County Public Guardian for LPS conservatorship consideration prior to any release.
Continued release of a gravely disabled, homeless, mentally ill parolee to the street without evaluation presents serious public safety and County liability concerns.
I am attempting to do whatever it takes as a mother to SAVE my son!
Please confirm what actions are being taken.
Respectfully,
Ms. Donovan Boswell
Mother of Alexander Reese Boswell-Valenzuela
6XX-XXX-XXX6
————————————————————-
From: Donovan Boswell
Date: February 1, 2026 at 1:36:57 PM CST
Subject: URGENT: Gravely Disabled Mentally Ill Parolee Incarcerated at Central Men’s Jail – LPS Action Needed
I am the mother of Alexander Reese Boswell-Valenzuela (DOB 02/15/1994), who is currently incarcerated at Orange County Central Men’s Jail.
Booking Number: 3397499
Arresting City: Fountain Valley, CA
Date of Incarceration: 01/31/2026
Since his release on parole in July 2025, my son has:
- Remained homeless
- Continued methamphetamine use
- Lost over 30 pounds
- Been arrested at least five times
- Refused psychiatric medication due to lack of insight into his mental illness
- Been repeatedly released to the street with no shelter or treatment
I have repeatedly requested mental health placement, parole coordination, and LPS conservatorship evaluation due to grave disability. These requests have been ignored or declined.
Less restrictive alternatives have clearly failed.
I previously attempted to submit documentation to jail court and was rejected due to lack of a case number — despite not having access to booking information at the time.
Now that he is incarcerated, I am urgently requesting County intervention to ensure:
1. Immediate psychiatric evaluation while in custody
2. Formal documentation of grave disability
3. Referral to the Orange County Public Guardian for LPS conservatorship consideration prior to any release
Continued release of a gravely disabled, homeless, mentally ill parolee to the street without evaluation presents serious public safety and County liability concerns.
Please confirm what actions are being taken.
Respectfully,
Ms. Donovan Boswell
Mother of Alexander Reese Boswell-Valenzuela
6XX-XXX-XXX6
*AS OF TODAYS DATE ALEXANDER HAS REMAINED HOMELESS, UNMEDICATED, NO FOOD, NO WATER, NO MONEY, NO ID, NO PHONE OR COMMUNICATION OF ANY KIND!!!
** HE HAS BEEN ARRESTED A TOTAL OF 8 TIMES SINCE HIS RELEASE ON PAROLE TO THE STREETS IN JUNE 2025- WITH ABSOLUTELY NO HELP!!!
*Each story is shared by someone impacted by untreated SMI, lightly edited for clarity, never for meaning.
- Category: Crisis Response, Discharged Without a Safe Plan — Hospital, Refusal Treated as Capacity
- Tag(s): Severe Deterioration
For over 30 years, my family has watched someone we love cycle through emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, short-term stabilization, discharge, relapse, and crisis all over again.
Thirty years.
Not because they didn’t want help.
Not because our family stopped trying.
But because the system is built around crisis management instead of continuity of care.
A person can enter an emergency room in full psychiatric crisis, be transferred to a psychiatric facility for only a few days, labeled “stable,” and discharged while still struggling with delusions, paranoia, confusion, or severe mental illness.
Then families are sent home carrying the responsibility of managing an illness that was never truly stabilized.
There is often little continuity between:
- emergency rooms
- psychiatric hospitals
- outpatient care
- long-term support systems
Families are forced to repeat the same traumatic cycle over and over:
crisis → hospitalization → brief stabilization → discharge → relapse → rehospitalization
And every cycle takes a deeper emotional toll.
The patient suffers.
The family suffers.
Relationships suffer.
Caregivers burn out.
Hope becomes harder to hold onto.
Many families live in constant fear:
Will they relapse again?
Will they stop taking medication?
Will they become psychotic again?
Will they survive the next crisis?
This is not sustainable care.
Mental illness cannot always be meaningfully treated in just a few days, especially when someone is living with severe psychosis or chronic psychiatric illness.
Patients deserve more than temporary stabilization.
Families deserve support.
Recovery deserves time.
That is why I created Beyond Stabilization.
We are advocating for:
- better continuity of care
- stronger discharge planning
- improved follow-up services
- family involvement
- expanded step-down programs
- compassionate long-term mental health support
If this story resonates with you, please sign and share the petition.
Because “stable” should mean more than surviving until discharge.
*Each story is shared by someone impacted by untreated SMI, lightly edited for clarity, never for meaning.
THE ASK
The author’s message for legislators:
My name is Tammy Willoughby, and I created Beyond Stabilization because my family has spent decades watching a loved one cycle through emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, short-term stabilization, discharge, relapse, and crisis all over again.
What we’ve experienced is not just one isolated story. Families across North Carolina are describing the same pattern:
patients are discharged after only a few days because they are considered “stable,” even while still experiencing severe psychiatric symptoms like delusions, paranoia, confusion, or impaired judgment.
The current system often defines stability as “not an immediate danger,” but families are being sent home with loved ones who are still very mentally ill and unable to function safely without significant support.
This creates a revolving door:
crisis, hospitalization, brief stabilization, discharge, relapse, and readmission.
It is emotionally devastating for families, traumatic for patients, and expensive for the healthcare system.
I am not here to blame healthcare workers. Most staff are overwhelmed, under-resourced, and doing the best they can within a broken system.
What I am asking for is meaningful reform around continuity of care and psychiatric discharge planning.
I would like to see:
- stronger discharge evaluations for severe psychosis cases,
- improved follow-up care within 48–72 hours,
- expanded crisis stabilization and step-down programs,
- greater family involvement when appropriate,
- and more oversight regarding rapid psychiatric discharge practices.
We need a mental health system focused not only on crisis containment, but on true recovery and long-term stability.
Because right now, too many families are surviving crisis after crisis without real support or progress.
I’m asking you to help bring attention to this issue, support mental health reform discussions, and explore policy solutions that prioritize patient safety, continuity of care, and recovery beyond stabilization.
share this story:
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