A protest of reductions in state disabled services being held Saturday at Eastpointe
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on May 19, 2005 1:45 PM
A protest against reductions in state services for disabled and mentally ill patients will be held Saturday in front of the Eastpointe building at the corner of James and Walnut streets, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Organizers say the purpose of the demonstration is to bring attention to the changes in policy that will switch many patients to depend on community-based resources and less on institutionalized care.
Eastpointe provides state-supported services for people with mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse problems in Wayne, Duplin, Lenoir and Sampson counties.
Dr. Jack St. Clair, the director of Eastpointe, has told legislators that state officials need to take a more cautious approach to implementing the changes, which are supposed to take place by 2007.
"We need time to create other options locally." St. Clair said. "We don't need to move faser until we can develop community capacity to treat people."