Looking like a typical teen, Tanner Edwards sat on the floor of his bedroom playing Guitar Hero with his brother.

It was one of his good days.

On those days Tanner, 15, is happy. He gets along with everyone and does not try to beat up his parents and the neighbors, said his mother, Laura Pelletier.

“He’s very helpful for a child with all those disabilities,” agreed his father, Don Edwards. Tanner does well when kept busy. He loves to deliver newspapers. He helps around the house. “We play basketball, poker,” his mother said. “He jokes. He can come up with some good jokes.”

It’s the bad days his parents dread.

Tanner may run in front of vehicles on Sabattus Street, choke his father, or assault other family members or classmates.

The teen has been diagnosed with multiple disabilities: bipolar disorder, mild mental retardation and epilepsy. He has mood changes and periods of unpredictable, aggressive rage. Concerned about his safety and the safety of others, three months ago Tanner’s parents, his caseworker and health-care workers asked the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to place Tanner in a residential program.

As of Thursday, the family had not heard from the state. Tanner remains at the Johnson Street home with his family.

At 5 feet, 9 inches and 180 pounds, he’s bigger than his parents. It’s not safe for him to be at home with his mother and siblings without his father, who says some days he’s lucky if he can work two hours without a call from home. He worries the family will lose their home.

“What is it going to take?” His mother said. “Is Tanner going to end up hurting someone or himself? I hate to say it, (but will it take) killing someone? Killing himself?”

Neighbors call the police all the time, she said. “They don’t want my son outside because they’re afraid for their kids. I can’t blame them. I’m doing everything I can.”

State: Response is swift if there’s imminent risk

The agency that would decide whether to place Tanner in residential care is Children’s Behavioral Health Services in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Joan Smyrski, director of the service, said she could not comment on individual cases, but when the agency decides to place a youth in residential treatment, action is swift if people are in danger, she said.

“If there were concerns a young person would commit suicide or harm someone else, we would act on it immediately,” Smyrski said, adding that the decision would be made in one to two weeks.

Residential placement is expensive, but cost doesn’t drive the decision, she said. What does is whether a placement is medically necessary.

Removing a child from home is the last resort, she said. Experts often consider whether they can meet the needs in the home. “Children may have depression but that doesn’t mean they need a group home,” Smyrski said.

According to documents provided by his parents, Tanner seems to meet the “imminent risk” criteria.

For years agencies recommended the parents request residential care. They did so for the first time in December. Pelletier said she was reluctant. “He’s my son,” she said. She felt she should care for him.

In the application, Tri-County Mental Health Services children’s case manager Mary Verrill wrote that Tanner’s family fears for their safety when he becomes physically aggressive. Tanner’s parents have called the police in the past. The police have tried talking to him, but often end up taking him to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center for a crisis evaluation.

“St. Mary’s Hospital is no longer willing to admit Tanner due to his aggressive behaviors,” Verrill wrote. The hospital gives him medication and sends him home, according to her report.

Another evaluation from KidsPeace National Centers of Lewiston recommended residential placement, saying Tanner’s behaviors “are most severe in the home.” He has been assaultive to home health care workers, his parents and siblings.

“His father has to work around Tanner’s schedule as it is not safe to have him alone in the home with only his mother and siblings. Tanner has a history of homicidal and suicidal behaviors and ideation. He has been physically aggressive since age 3.”

Porch talk turns violent

Last spring Tri-County caseworkers were at the home when Tanner became violent. It began on the porch with Tanner complaining that he was bored.

The caseworker suggested he take advantage of the Y’s offer of free court time so he could shoot hoops. He said he wanted to be on a real team. His mother said he’d have to “be safe for a year” before he could join a team.

Tanner became irritated and frustrated. Within seconds he escalated to the point of punching and kicking cars in the driveway, yelling and swearing.

One caseworker got her phone from her car. Tanner’s mother asked that the police not be called. “We’re used to this. Give us a few minutes to calm him down,” she said. The mother spoke to Tanner without raising her voice. Tanner threw her to the ground. Both parents worked to restrain him as he tried to bite, pinch and kick while being verbally abusive, constantly spitting in his mother’s face. After 20 minutes it appeared the teen had calmed. One caseworker entered the home to remove knives. Tanner, now calm, came into the home with his parents. The female caseworker greeted him, saying, “Hi, Tanner.”

The teen charged across the room, punched the woman in the back of the head and threw a large object at her, grazing her body.

Problems began early

Tanner’s parents said they noticed behavior problems almost from birth. As a toddler he tried to beat up his infant brother. “Tanner started going up to him and hitting him,” his mother said. Some children may hit others, but this was extreme, she said. “He was beating on him.”

As a child, Tanner played with electrical outlets. When he got a shock it didn’t phase him, his mother said. “He enjoyed it. He used to stick things in it knowing he was going to get shocked.”

Their family doctor referred Tanner to his first psychiatrist. He was put on medicine to change his behavior before he started kindergarten.

There have been many more specialists since. He went to pre-school, then kindergarten at Longley Elementary. In those early grades he attacked students and teachers and ran away.

He was sent to the Renaissance School, a school for children with special needs at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center’s Behavioral Medicine Division. That school couldn’t handle him, his mother said.

He was next sent to the Margaret Murphy Center in Auburn, a private special education school. He was there for four years. “Margaret Murphy kept him by himself with two staffers at all times. They tried everything,” his mother said.

When Tanner went on field trips, the activity was double-staffed and Tanner rode in a separate vehicle. Despite the school’s efforts, he caused injuries to others and Tanner could no longer go to the Margaret Murphy school, his mother said.

‘His last school’

In the fall Tanner began attending day treatment at the Becket House in Norridgewock, a program for youths with special needs. He’s transported to school in a van by two adults – one to drive, the other to watch Tanner.

“This is his last school,” his mother said.

She’s pleased that her son is making progress and doing lots of hands-on activities. “They’ve got a greenhouse and chickens. They don’t expect the kids to sit down and read books,” she said. “They understand Tanner can’t learn that way. They’ve got him working in a greenhouse. They’ve got him working with chickens. He loves it.”

The Becket House has a residential facility with a bed waiting for Tanner, his parents said. The program would teach Tanner how to control himself, what to do if he feels rage coming. He also could continue his current day program.

On doctor recommendations, in the past Tanner has been admitted to psychiatric hospitals for 30-day stays at Spring Harbor, Acadia, St. Mary’s and others.

“It hasn’t done any good,” his father said. “All they do is put more pills in his system, then send him home.”

While they wait, Tanner continues to have days that scare his parents.

“The other day he grabbed all his pills and threw them in his mouth. He does that,” Pelletier said. “I’ve got to do something before he hurts someone or kills himself.”