Feds warn NC lagging on deal to move mentally ill from homes

By EMERY P. DALESIO
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) – Government lawyers are warning that North Carolina officials have failed to live up to a court agreement to move people with serious mental illness out of adult care homes and into their communities.

The US Justice Department’s disability rights section says the state failed to provide housing and employment help to more than 700 adults by July as required under the 2012 deal.

A Raleigh-based independent reviewer reported on the state’s progress last month. Martha Knisley said Monday about two dozen states are facing similar pressure and most are having difficulty complying.

North Carolina’s deal says 3,000 people who otherwise would be living in adult care homes or mental hospitals would get affordable housing in their communities by mid-2020. The state’s total price tag was estimated at nearly $300 million.

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