Advocates: Children left out of mental health plan

ATLANTA - Advocates say Georgia has rolled out new support centers and other initiatives meant to help mentally ill adults, but they say the state needs to do more to help children.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the state's mental health system has opened new crisis stabilization units and peer support centers, all part of a five-year agreement between the state and the U.S. Justice Department.

The Justice Department opened an investigation after the newspaper reported on psychiatric hospital patients who had died under suspicious circumstances. The agreement called for top-to-bottom changes in the system.

But advocates like Cynthia Wainscott say children were not addressed in the deal. She tells the newspaper that caring for children is critical to ensuring the system is not overwhelmed by sick adults in the future.

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