to see what lies ahead. but for the families you will meet tonight the joy they feel in this moment masks the terror and dread lurking just below the surface. >> i wake up every morning drenched in sweat and worried about what am i going to do about eric? >> reporter: when eric and nick leave school they will lose the specialized help and structure they had for most of their lives. there is no i equivalent state or federal support required to take over. parents of children with autism compare it to falling off a cliff. >> happy graduation everything that we worked for, we are taking it away. and you will leap off the cliff into nothingness. right now the picture its nothing inning nothingness. it is black. absolutely black. >> reporter: for the last three years, "dateline's" cameras chronicled the lives of the two families as they made this leap. >> i don't think i have ever been more terrified than i am right now. >> reporter: we have watched them struggle to find resources. >> he is falling apart. he is a mess.

i need help. i need help like two months ago. >> you don't feel look you can do it this morning? >> reporter: and battle to build a future for their sons. >> this feels so good. feel the air. isn't it wonderful? >> reporter: our story starts long before their worlds turned upside down. on a warm summer evening in new york city where eric and mary are out on their weekly date. >> not afraid not afraid of rain. >> reporter: over dinner eric and his mother talk about his upcoming birthday. >> you are a big guy. >> reporter: in a few months eric will turn 21. the age when people with disabilities are no longer eligible for help through the education system. >> you are a big boy. >> really becoming a young man. going to be a young man. a young man. >> reporter: it wasn't so long ago that eric was a little boy, running around the apartment where he lives with his mother father and sister. >> he its a beautiful toddler.

he is a beautiful toddler running of and down the halls, chasing our labrador retriever. he was such a loving child. and so attached to me. >> reporter: when he was about 18 months old, mary noticed eric only had a few word. and he had become repetitive playing an old cassette tape again and again. >> so that was the first hint the pediatrician then said it is time to get him looked at. i don't think he got a full diagnosis of autism until he was 3. by 2 1/2 we were on it and had started therapies. >> reporter: you knew? >> we knew. we knew. >> reporter: eric started going to treatment centers to help him develop language skills. >> eric. do you want some bagel. >> bagel. >> reporter: mary was building a career as a professional artist. but she put those ambitions on hold to care for her son full time. >> reporter: did you miss it? >> i was heartsick. >> reporter: on the other hand

you would do absolutely anything for your son? >> of course that's what was happening. i couldn't say no to any possibility of help for him. you know i just saw so much potential the i knew this kid had so much in him. that any help he needed we gave to him. >> reporter: the symptoms of autism are measured on a spectrum. eric is roughly in the middle. there are many people who are far more challenged like nick kabiskow his story starts at home on new york's long island where he lives with his parents and sister. nick doesn't speak and spend large parts of his days watching disney movies something his mom lenore says he does repetitively. >> nick is watching his favorite scene in the whole world right now. the flavor of the month is "101 dalmatians." a few second long when he lets the scene play. he watches it for four hours. >> reporter: nick has a common trait, severe obsessive

compulsive disorder. i watched him walk in a room he walked on the edge of the room. >> he developed a very -- we call it core graechlthoreography. it could take two hours to cross a room. it's painful to watch. >> reporter: nick needs individual attention hard to provide in a classroom. a local school district send aide to work one-on-one at home. like eric nick's 21st birthday around the corner. they will both abruptly lose the services that have helped them come so far. >> is it cruel to offer something and have it taken away? but it seemed crueller not to offer it in the first place. i don't know what the answer its. and, and -- 40-some weeks we're going to find out. >> the burden for caring for eric and nick will fall almost entirely on their families especially on their mothers.

you are about to see what happens as they prepare for that life changing moment. >> coming up -- in a sign of just how much progress nick has made his family is able to take him to his favorite place on earth. disney world. >> it's a cause for celebration because he has come such a long way. >> reporter: will nick and eric's progress continue without help? >> without purposeful things to do he will fall back into the autism world. he is so much happier out of it. the beast was as long as the boat. for seven hours, we did battle. until i said... you will not beat... meeeeee!!! greg. what should i do with your fish? gary. just put it in the cooler. if you're a fisherman, you tell tales. it's what you do.

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>> i'm not finding anything appropriate for him yet. >> eric sidowski's parents are sitting in an emergency meeting with the principal at his school. >> what are the options for him next year? >> eric is not in trouble. he has awe 'tis temperaturetiz autism. by law he must leave school when he turns 21 in a few months. eric's dad says he is not done learning and he as mary aren a enin a panic awhat what he will do next. >> eric has been a student at the rebecca school for the past five years. a private school dedicated to providing specialized support like speech and occupational

therapy to children with developmental disabilities. >> it is a place where he is understood. and he is cared about. he loves the teachers. he is very very attached off to them. the rebecca school is like a family to him. >> reporter: its expensive too. $100,000 a year. after some costly legal wrangling, eric's parents got the public school district to pick up the tab. that's because federal law says states are obligated to educate children through high school. for those with special needs that usually means up to age 21. >> without purposeful things to do he will fall back into the autism world into his own inner world. he is so much happier out of it. but that's where his brain takes him. it's hard. i really need these people. and i can't have them anymore. >> reporter: as an adult eric will be eligible for social security and he will be able to apply for services funded by

medicaid. but his parents have been warned that those programs will not be tailored to autism or build on the skills eric has mastered at the rebecca school. >> we just can't cut off educating, teaching supporting people when they age out of their school program. >> linda walder director of the jordan daniel fiddle foundation a think-tank dedicated to study studying issues of adults with autism. because autism prefvalence rates have doubled, half a million young people with autism willage out in the next ten years. >> it is a tsunami of children aging to adult life. >> do you stop having autism when you turn 21. >> that's one of the general misconceptions about autism. it only affects children. >> you do not outgrow autism. >> you do not outgrow autism.

>> the clock is ticking on nicholas's services has a month left until he turns 21 and loses access to resources his mother says have changed his life and hers. >> i never gave of on nick. i always knew there was more to him. i knew he was in there. i knew he was trying. when we supported him at hemome. i kept getting glimpses. >> reporter: finding a way to reach nick is a challenge. he used to live in a 24 hour treatment sernlt. but -- center. lenore said they had trouble with his behavior. >> what did that lead to? >> initially, protesting. and it eventually evolved into him becoming very very self destructive. property destruction. and he would, he began to attack people. he began to lash out. >> reporter: lenore says they

had no choice to bring him home. >> reporter: a lot for the family. but a lot fell on you. >> moms do what moms got to do. we do what we have to do. >> reporter: now their public school district provides aide to help lenore in the home and send a teacher to work with nick for two hours every day. >> what is this? you know it yeah? >> reporter: the teacher helps him communicate using a device that generates speech. yes, give me two more on this page okay. >> you really need more than one person to teach nick. >> i need a break. >> you can take a break. >> when you have some one at his elbow to keep him calm and keep him focused it does work. >> reporter: with this individualized approach nick's aggression has nearly disappeared. he started venturing out of the house, taking trips to a local bagel shop even the grocery store. he has made so much progress that his family decide to take their first vacation in seven years. the destination, nick's favorite place on earth.

>> nick! we're in disney! >> this is a big deal. a big deal for our whole family. we all want to go home and talk about it. >> reporter: nick's older sister tasha says she is proud of her brother. >> it is a cause for celebration because he has come such a long way. and he's as typical as i would love for him to be. >> reporter: even as nick's confidence is growing, he may not know what's about to happen when he turns 21. his family knows and can't help but worry. what are you most afraid of? >> pulling that plug. his world is going to collapse. everything that we have spent the hours the dollars is about to go down the drain. >> reporter: in eric's case he is very aware that change is coming. he even talks about leaving the rebecca school with one of his

aide. >> you dent want to have your graduation party this year? >> not yet. wait until you are 25. >> okay. >> he is really under stress. he has a fantasy about taking all of the girls that he has loved, all on a trip where they go away together. and he was going to have this be when he was 21. he got so frightened of 21 that he moved it to 25. >> you don't want to have graduation for five more years? >> nope. not yet. you have five more years of school. >> this is him organizing his future. >> you are going to stay at the rebecca school for five years. >> yes. >> are you really? >> yes. >> is this pretend or real? >> real. >> uh-huh. >> from what you can tell what does he know? >> he's pretty upset about leaving rebecca school and leaving his friend. and i don't have anything

positive to tell him about what's coming up. >> graduating. >> nicholas joseph kowbisko. >> he has come so far and that's

>> reporter: turning 21 is a pivotal moment in the life of a person with disabilities. before special education students like nick graduate federal law says they must have something called a transition plan. created by their school districts. it's supposed to be a set of measurable goals designed to prepare young people for adult life. but nick's mom lenore hasn't received anything. so she and her husband mike call the school superintendent to complain. >> i have no transition plan.

and the clock is tick. which is why i said to you i am fearful we are delaying and delaying here. nicholas' need are not being met. >> reporter: dateline found nick's case is not unique. according to our analysis of the u.s. department of education data only a handful of states are consistently making transition plans for all special education students. up to now the department of education has been the sole agency response bum forible for eric and nick. when they graduate their families will have to navigate a jumbled patchwork of state and federal programs. >> good job, nick. excellent doing it together. bud. >> reporter: lenore begins making frantic calls to get nick hooked up with an agency that could provide adult services. here we are right on the brink and i didn't know how to make it gel the whole system didn't make any sense at all. >> reporter: there is no instruction manual right?

>> depending on who you got on the other side of the fall. i have cold calls to 30 agencies just taking notes like crazy. i look back at the notes. i'm like my god, it was chaos. >> how are you doing, all right? >> reporter: there is one particular program lenore has been desperate to get nick enrolled in before heages s ageages out known as self allocation, the government would alot money for nick and pick and choose for services at home. with graduation a few weeks away lenore find out he has been wait listed. >> he has no program to transition to because the funding is not there and he is stuck on a waiting list. >> eric's mother mary is deeply concerned about her son's transition too. she has been looking for adult program for him for years. >> a short list of things i thought probably would come through. i'm working my way through them. i'm getting a lot of shut doors.

>> reporter: mary is finding there are few options for adults and even fewer options for adults with autism. >> wanted to put him at the y, a special need program. they go to 14. this is a phrase i hear from agency program, center all the time. >> reporter: on the day after his 21st birthday. eric walks into school for the last time. >> sabrina, not done yet. wait until 2016. >> that's so far away. right now we are in 2012. >> it is really tough. i wish we had more of a plan for eric. >> reporter: joshua rich eric's head teacher says the day is more difficult because eric is the first to age out of the rebecca school. >> we have brought him so far. we are leaving him at an

uncertain position. >> here is your art work. >> reporter: eric wants a quiet ending. no graduation ceremony no party, no celebrations. eric's principal tina mccord says his departure is tough on everyone. >> check you later, man. >> i think the students are feeling it. and i know the staff is. i -- whew i feel very much like a mother hen of all the students here. for eric i am proud of him. he has come so far. but it's concerning that that it is not, he is not going to some place that is going to be -- supportive and meet his need and allow him to move ahead. i feel worried about him. so -- that makes it harder to see him go. >> time to go home. >> everybody should give these kids and these adults a chance because what they bring to the table -- is really amazing. they have so much to add.

>> bye. >> >> bye. >> good-bye. >> all right. bye. >> i'll see you. you ready? >> eric get on the school bus for the very last time. headed towards an uncertain future. >> while eric's transition was deliberately unceremonious, nick's is much more of a celebration. >> graduation. >> although nick hasn't been in a regular classroom for most of his life, he is participating in the school district's graduation ceremony at his parents' request. his teacher, holly stovall and sister tasha support him as he receives his diploma. just a few years ago, a crowd like this would have been overwhelming and stressful for nick. >> nicholas joseph kobiskow.

[ cheers and applause ] >> class of 2013! [ cheers and applause ] >> when he had that gown on he was proud of himself. he had a smirk. he held himself a little high. sitting at graduation he showed everybody that thought i couldn't. i sat here. and look i walked the stage myself. and i did it. and he did. >> reporter: the celebration will be short-lived, nick and eric are about to find out that their immediate futures are chaotic. and threaten to undo a lifetime of learning. >> he has come so far in the couple of months. and then tomorrow it just end? lick that just is mind-boggling for me. that's that's crazy.

starting tomorrow he's stuck in the house, it's not fair to him. >> coming up -- >> to raise an autistic child, you can't do it without the help. >> but what kind of help is out there? we take our hidden cameras inside a day-hab. >> just being in storage. they're sitting in a room. it's what you buy if you're a smart shopper. then, why are we buying cascade instead of finish? finish all in 1 powerball rated a best buy three years in a row. finish has active cleaning enzymes that cascade gel does not. its powerful formula tackles the toughest jobs for an amazing clean. smart shoppers choose best buys. smart shoppers choose finish. switch and see the difference. and new finish max in 1 is wrapper free.

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>> reporter: a month after nick's graduation his mom lenore is flipping through his appointment callen dare enendar where she keeps track of meetings with teachers and care givers. it is empty. >> there is nobody coming. >> reporter: lenore is on her own. >> i remember pulling the shade. turning on the air conditioner. and saying okay buddy just me and you.

>> reporter: as the weeks go on. lenore is watching her son regress before her eyes. >> his personality dimmed. his willingness to interact dimmed. there is less practice. less to do. less opportunity. it's like literally dimming the lights. >> reporter: nick has been on a waiting list for government money to pay for the at-home services his mom really wants. but there is a catch. even if the funding comes through, the state requires anyone receiving services to have a social worker and lenore can't find one. >> when you are ready. >> lenore has taken interviews for a number of agencies that provide social worker. none of them have agreed to take his case. >> to raise an autistic child -- you almost you can't, you can't do it without the help. and right now -- i don't know how we are going to do it? i don't know what kind of life he is going to have. because we are looking at a really barren landscape for him.

i don't think i have been more terrified than i am right now. 'tis madvocate linda walder says government programs aren't designed for adults with -- autism. >> it is not addressing the need of adults and growing population of adults living with autism. >> it is not addressing the reality we have now. >> not today's reality. >> reporter: without jobs or housing, adults with autism. and 80% under age 30 live at home. which is what eric is doing now that he has turned 21 and aged out of the rebecca school where he had constant support. does 21 seem arbitrary to you? >> for these kids it is tearrribly arbitrary. i understand the state has to

have some limits. they can't support people forever. but this is no solution. >> reporter: mary wonders if all the money spent educating eric will have been a waste if she can't find something productive for him to do now. this is what eric's day is like since aging out. little structure. hanging around the apartment with nothing to do and nowhere to go. >> it suddenly hit us we are into the rest of our lives. and -- and it's been a big change. and -- a friltghtening one. >> reporter: with no more teachers and friend to stimulate skills eric is losing some of the speech he gained in school. >> so she can't sit in a the circle. >> sofa or circle. >> circle. >> so she can't sit in a circle. >> he is sleeping 12 to 13 hours. kind of drifting in and out of his room. singing to himself a lot.

talking to himself a lot. really regressing into his own world. a lot of withdrawal. eric's mother explored free day programs offered by the state known as day-habs. she doesn't like what she has seen. what did you see? >> rooms full of people with their heads on the tables. wandering around. just just being in storage. they're just sitting in a room. >> reporter: "dateline" took hidden cameras into some of the pay day programs to see for ourselves. we were looking for a program for some one with autism who is aging out. this is what we saw. at one, a group of adults gathered in a room doing very little. at another, people with special needs are working, gluing strips of rubber to metal. a staff member tells us they spend most of their day in this room. >> the hours are from 8:30 to 3:00. >> they have a break, from 10:30

to 10:40. and then they have a lunch break from 12. 30. to 1:00. >> reporter: outside the facility there is barbed wire. there for safety reasons. and the thing is there are often huge wait lists to get into day-habs like these. >> somebedody who works for the state told me not to look at state program. they're terrible. >> reporter: that speaks volume. >> some one in the state system said don't come here. >> reporter: yeah. >> she said honestly they're all horrible. >> reporter: new york state says it is helping more and mr. people with developmental disabilities lead increasingly independent lives. in the process of shutting down sheltered workshops and trying to help people find jobs. >> i had always thought when he got older i had a vague idea he would have some kind of a job. and it would be over. and i'm only adjusting now over the last two years, of this transition period to understand that it's never going to be

over. as long as i'm alive, i will be caring for eric. >> reporter: being a champion for some one who has a developmental disability can be draining. studies show a higher incidence of depression among parents and care givers. six months after eric's graduation mary is struggling. >> reporter: it must be so hard date to day. >> it is exhausting. biggest thing that hurts. len leap lonliness and isolation. it is very hard. i absolutely love this boy. mary is feeling desperate and starts to think one of the day-habs might be better than nothing. she send in an application. >> i still wake up every single morning in a panic and worried about what am i going to do about eric. >> and eric needs to get outside. >> i look at the future. and that feels so hopeless. >> i mean mommy. >> okay. >> reporter: both families are watching their sons slip away.

discovering they have to make compromises. but as difficult as things seem one family is about to discover things could be even worse. >> we have nice weather. that is about the level of service that we have here. we always tell people don't move here. >> coming up -- >> hope. >> the team that comes to help him helps me do better for him. >> and heartbreak. >> what does it mean to the family? >> it will be long distance. >> reporter: when date line continues.

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after watching her son eric sing into his own world, bored and lonely with nothing to get him out of bed, mary digs deep. >> i kind of snapped out of my own depression and came to a realization that if i dent do something -- i don't do something, eric will stay the way he is. >> so mary once a professional artist becomes her son's teach ter. >> i built a binder. built lessons. put together a daily plan for him. this is how it is set up for adults. you graduate. and all education stops. and eric is nowhere near finished with his education.

>> reporter: do you have any idea how much money you have spent on care for eric? >> probably our least expensive year has been $40,000. and the higher ones have been around $90,000. >> reporter: $90,000. for a year? >> uh-huh. we haven't been able to save any money. we don't have any retirement. but it's when people ask me how much does it cost to raise a kid with autism? everything you've got. for nick there is good news. his mom find a social worker to take his case. after three months on the wait list he is approved for the self determination program. lenore now has state medicaid money to hire a support team for nick including familiar faces like his former teacher holly. >> the team that comes to help him helps me do better for him. because when they're here they meet his need. >> reporter: you can breathe. >> they carry him. and i get to sit back as mom,

and go you go guy. like look you can do it. >> i don't know what is bothering you today. >> reporter: here is something that may seem odd that makes nick's mom proud. he is crying. expressing emotion like this has always been a challenge for him. >> so when he cries, there is a little happy dance going on from my side. because he didn't do it before. he does it now. which means i bet there is a lot more that he didn't do before that is going to happen. and we're ready. >> reporter: lenore can't sit back for long. there its another unexpected change. >> reporter: your husband's job is shifting to florida. >> yeah yeah. >> reporter: why the deep intake of breath? >> because that's a big scary thing. that's a big scary thing. >> reporter: with lenore working only part time the family relies on her husband mike's income. so they decide to take a

scouting trip to florida to find out if nick can get the same kind of support there. >> we went to medicaid. went to providers down there. we asked the questions. >> reporter: dateline is with lenore on her visit to agencies where employees are incredibly candid about how little they have to offer. they alutlow their conversations to be recorded. >> are you going to have those guaranteed services from new york to hear? >> no you are not. >> and i would be look to you if i told you you would. >> we always say if there is a way he can remain there, then you are -- you are really trading in a lot for nothing. we have nice weather. that is about the level of service that we have here. we always tell people. don't move here. >> reporter: we later asked florida state officials for comment. they say over the past two

years, the state has approved more funding to help get people off of the wait list. >> reporter: how is it possible that things are so different from one state to another? >> the funding source is medicaid. and medicaid is a state/federal partnership. >> reporter: sharon lewis is senior adviser on disability policy for the u.s. government and states decide how to spend federal money for adults with autism. >> there is no minimum requirement in terms of how many people you are going to search how much you are going to spend on this. it is a state decision. >> reporter: so the federal government can't say -- to florida, you have got to do the same thing? >> at this point. under the law, no. >> reporter: what's more. lewis says states split their medicaid dollars between the poor and people with disabilities. she says it all add up to a system that can't take that much weight. >> the programs are overstressed with the numbers. why we see wait lists. >> reporter: that's the bottom

line? we don't have the budgets. >> we have not addressed the need for long term services support in this country. >> reporter: lewis understands fighting for the resources that do exist is hard on families. she says the federal government is implementing a five-year plan to better coordinate services for adults with disabilities. >> doesn't it seem a little unfair the families have to become super advocate sntzs? >> it is unfair. when we see individuals with autism who are the most successful they're coming from families who have high expectations they're the parents who are sitting on the phone for hours. >> reporter: back in new york, nick's family decide he is better off staying put. so they make a difficult decision. they're breaking of the family. mike will move to florida for his job alone. >> reporter: what does it moon to the -- mean to the family? >> it will be long distance. it leaves nick my daughter and i here to try to figure out how we're going to be three quarters

of a family. and keep dad connected. >> reporter: and eric's family is also settling for a situation that is not perfect but better than him sitting at home. six months after he graduated from the rebecca school eric starts attending a day-hab in manhattan where he does volunteer work. >> it's simple things like setting tables. delivering mail. they even have dog walking, delivering meals to the elderly. >> let's get to work everybody. >> eric is doing an excellent job working. >> while they dent doon't do that much. it is better than most. he has a mix of young people to be with. and he has friends. >> reporter: what eric and his mom don't know is that there is something even better right around the corner. >> coming up -- a little light at the end of a long tunnel. >> he is really gifted artist. and i see really good things coming out of this. >> it's not over. it's not a done deal.

see the individual.

>> for the last three years, mary and lenore have carried their sons through an unstable scary transition. they have fought for every bit of help they could find. and they have tried their best to give their sons the support they lost when they turned 21. nick has had an especially bumpy road. after depending solely on his mom for months he finally got help in the form of a state funded program that sends aides to his home. then his family had to break up in order to keep his services. and last october, another change. he abruptly loses some of his services again. >> our experience when he graduated was falling off a cliff. i said to my husband this was equivalent getting pushed off a cliff. >> reporter: here is why, new york state agencies put new conditions on how government funding can be used to pay for

programs like nick's. he loses valuable members of his team overnight. and quickly spins out of control. >> he's falling apart. he is a mess. and i need help. i need help like two months ago. >> reporter: after an episode of extreme anxiety leaves nick hospitalized, lenore calls an agency that provide services for nick begging for help. lenore feels like once again she is on her own. >> that's all i can do is hope. keep my fingers crossed. work with him minute by minute. minute by minute. some days are truly men outinute. after months of lobbying state administrators and looking for loopholes she manages to piece back together some of nick's support team. over muffins and coffee one recent weekend, lenore brings them back up to speed on nick. >> we know now he is not wrong, he is just him. he needs supports from us to be

okay with being him. >> reporter: lenore knows nick will always need day lot of help. but also knows he can participate in his community. we joined nick and his team members as theyrecycle bottles and cans that nick collects. >> $1.25, $1.35. about $3. right. nick donates the money tee makes smake -- he makes to make a wish. >> he had make a wish a number of years ago. that was life changing for him. >> the money you collected. thank you so much. >> not everybody works a paying job. that doesn't mean they don't contribute to their community. >> for all your hard work. >> right now. we are teaching him how to do that with something as simple as collecting bottles. and passing the money on to charity. >> for eric the period of isolation and stagnation he went through after leaving the

rebecca school is coming to an end. >> i'll be right back. >> reporter: he recently learned a new skill. he is taking the subway by himself. a big step on the path to becoming more independent. >> what are you going to do this weekend? >> reporter: instead of weekly dinner dates with his mom, eric meets with a language coach, his own age, paid for by his parents. and their conversation sound like any other dinner date. >> thank you for asking. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> how are you today? >> the best news is eric's mom has traded the day-hab for something even better. eric has been chosen for a selective art program for adults with developmental disabilities. it's called pure vision arts. run by the shield institute, a nonprofit organization. >> i like the colors you used. >> reporter: eric shows us some of his art work. >> milk or juice? >> milk. >> breakfast. >> eric has displayed his work

in several art exhibits around new york city. at his first show old friends come to celebrate with him. his mother who has finally finding time to get back to her own art work is thrilled. and one knowy morning this february mary and eric go to one of the biggest public art fairs in new york city. >> i am really, really proud of you. this is a big show. and it's really special. >> reporter: his art is on the walls and it's for sale. >> very proud of you. he is really a gifted artist. and i see really good things coming out of this. i'm so pleased. i just think he does have a chance at a life away from me. this is a new beginning for him. >> what is he telling -- >> reporter: for lenore it is hard to imagine a day when she went be managing her son's life. she knows when that day comes the responsibility will fall to nick's sister. >> reporter: what happens when

you are not there for him anymore? >> i am terrified for him and my daughter. i pray that -- that they find people in their lives that have been through that and find a way to make that as easy as we can for both of them. >> reporter: both moms have spent a lifetime helping their sons find their voices. now, they want every voice to be heard. >> it's not going to get any better until parents get together and force change. it's the most important thing you can do for your kid. >> all the times that people told us "he would never." well "he is." >> all of the things they said "he can't." and "he won't." >> he can, he will he does he is. it's not over. it's not a done deal. see the individual.

that's all for now. i'm lester holt. there is a couple cases i really carried with me. there is a woman that lost her life. it was really emotional. it was heartbreaking, it was absolutely heartbreaking. >> a wife and mom dead in her bedroom. a frantic call to 911. >> calm down. >> moments later, another. >> my son just killed my wife. >> two separate calls, one caller was telling the truth. father versus son. >> i grabbed him. i said stop and he throws me to the ground. >> he's very good at making up stories, but that's not true. >> each is accusing the other of the crime. >> yes. >> and you have to figure out who the killer is. >> that's the problem. >> broken glasses,