OutgoingVirginia Governor seeks millions for the mentally ill

Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner announced a sweeping $460 million spending proposal yesterday that would replace several aging hospitals and training facilities for the mentally ill and retarded in Virginia while allocating more to community-based services for the mentally disabled, according to The Washington Post.

The proposal, which Warner (D) will include in his upcoming budget and which will require approval by the General Assembly, calls for building four replacements for some of the state's oldest facilities for the mentally disabled: Western State Hospital in Staunton, Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, the Central Virginia Training Center in Lynchburg and the Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake. The cost would be $290 million.

The plan also includes nearly $170 million in state and federal funds to help move hundreds of the nearly 3,000 people in the state's 15 institutions to smaller group homes in their communities and increasing outpatient services for those who live in group homes across the state.