RALEIGH — It’s a scenario that has troubled families and state officials for years: the housing of frail, elderly people side-by-side with younger people with severe mental illness in state-licensed assisted living homes.
In 2009 and 2010, at least four residents of North Carolina rest homes were killed by fellow patients with records of severe mental illness and violence.
But a task force’s recommendations for legislative action during this session have been scaled back before even being included in bills, a recognition that any measure bearing a new price tag will fare poorly in this cash-starved budget year.
