Session: Mental health a moral issue
Gov. Haley Barbour has advocated moving the state toward less institutional care and more home- and community-based care, a move he says will result in savings to the taxpayers. But Department of Mental Health Executive Director Ed LeGrand said Barbour’s request for additional cuts in Fiscal Year 2012 leaves few alternatives because the department already needs an additional $37 million to replace federal stimulus funds that won’t be available.
LeGrand says if his agency’s budget is cut significantly, it could have “catastrophic” impact, causing elimination of services at every facility the agency has opened over the past decade.
There are indeed two sides to the mental health story in Mississippi.
Clarion Ledger
1/4/10
Magnolia Tribune
