For Jani Schofield, some progress -- and major setbacks

On June 29, The Times profiled Jani Schofield, a 6-year-old diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her parents in "Jani's at the mercy of her mind." The article examined Jani's bouts of rage, her make-believe world, and Michael and Susan Schofield's efforts to keep their family together while also safely raising Jani and her toddler brother, Bodhi. Here is an update on the Schofield family.)

Michael and Susan Schofield's plan to keep two apartments and trade 14-hour shifts caring for their 6-year-old daughter, Jani, worked for awhile.

(Jani, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her family had been profiled in an L.A. Times story, "Jani's at the mercy of her mind" on June 29.)

And Jani returned, with modest success, to her elementary school.

But when school ended two weeks later, so did the Schofields' only real respite care, and their lives began to unravel.

The Schofields clashed with the team of workers from a nonprofit provider of mental health services the family was depending on for support. The social workers tried to help, says Michael, but didn't seem to understand that simple parenting techniques and behavioral therapies were irrelevant when caring for a psychotic child.

The cost of two apartments was crushing, and their money woes mounted. Michael and Susan began to argue more often.

When she was discharged June 1 from UCLA's Resnick Psychiatric Hospital, Jani had fewer hallucinations and was less violent. But within a week at home, she began spending more time in her imaginary world of rats and cats and searing temperatures.

Jani's psychiatrist raised her dose of Thorazine, one of three drugs she takes to control the psychosis, but it had little effect. Moreover, Thorazine causes severe photo-sensitivity so time spent at the park and swimming pool, where Jani is mostly easily entertained, had to be dramatically curtailed. She was soon bored with her tiny apartment.

The detailed daily schedule the Schofields crafted to mimic Jani's schedule at UCLA went by the wayside. The point system the couple planned to use to track Jani's behavior and reward her for progress was forgotten.

Both Michael and Susan battle depression and see a therapist. But Michael grew especially despondent.