An autistic teen needed mental health help. He spent weeks in an ER instead.

By his fourth week waiting for help in the emergency room, Zachary Chafos’s skin had turned pale white from lack of sun. His mother, Cheryl Chafos, bathed her autistic teenage son daily in the ER’s shower, trying to scrub the sickly pallor off him. His father, Tim Chafos, held the 18-year-old’s hand, trying to soothe his son’s pain and confusion over what was happening.