Mental trouble
Friday, June 30th, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
Don Stedman
CHAPEL HILL - The General Assembly’s determination to build three new mental hospitals — at Butner, Goldsboro and Morganton — indicates to me that we have now come full circle in mental health services in North Carolina.
About 40 years ago, during the Terry Sanford administration, our state gained national prominence as a model of reform for services for persons with mental illness and mental retardation. This came when we "deinstitutionalized" the mental health service system and moved from a few mental hospitals to a 41-multi-county-area system. It included special Mental Retardation Centers strategically located around the state, backed by local diagnostic, rehabilitation and training programs.
These programs were mostly supported by state and federal funds. Sanford’s leadership and subsequent support in the Scott, Holshouser and Hunt administrations brought services to a level of penetration and access no longer enjoyed by our families and communities. (more…)
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