When María Turrubiartes’ son Jose made violent threats at school, it was the troubling culmination of something she had observed recently. A tween now, José had started acting up, pushing back when his parents asked him to help around the house and even threatening suicide.
“It’s very difficult for me,” Turrubiartes says. “I’m always on edge with him. I’m very scared that he’ll hurt himself.” After closing her business due to health problems, she’s been reluctant to start working again, she says. “Until this is resolved, I’m going to stay right here. I can’t leave him alone.”
But recently, Turrubiartes has found some relief through a new network of crisis services that has sprung up in Lafayette over the past year to help youth in crisis. Through a referral from a new crisis support line, she was able to find placement for José at the Lafayette Multi-Agency Resource Center (LaMARC), a facility for youth in Freetown-Port Rico started last year by the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice…