RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina has wasted at least $400 million in its efforts to treat more mentally ill people in their own communities and fewer in the state's four psychiatric hospitals. That's according to The News & Observer of Raleigh.
An investigation by the newspaper published in today's editions showed that local governments, forced to stop offering treatment, were replaced by providers trying to make money, using mostly high school graduates instead of licensed professionals. In a few months, the cost of the community support program was $50 million a month, more than 10 times what the state had expected.
The state now says hundreds of providers have abused the system. So far, the state Department of Health and Human Services has demanded that the providers pay back $59 million.
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