Minnesota’s Rural Mental Health Safety Net Is In Limbo

Circle Connections: Policy & Regulatory Updates
After decades of gradually moving patients out of the massive state hospitals and into community settings, Minnesota 10 years ago made a final push to close what remained of the costly treatment centers. The last -- Willmar Regional Treatment Center -- shut down five years ago. For thousands of patients, community placement – with medication and therapy – has been a welcome success. But for patients who can be volatile or unstable it has been a rough ride: In one recent 18-month period, some 4,000 Minnesotans with acute mental illness washed into the criminal justice system . . .