Mississippi asserts it is meeting mental health mandates
EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Associated Press
May 3, 2021
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) The Mississippi Department of Mental Health says it is fulfilling requirements to provide community-based services, and it is asking a federal judge not to order the state to make changes in its mental health system.
The federal government issued a letter in 2011 saying Mississippi had done too little to provide mental health services outside mental hospitals. The Justice Department sued the state in 2016. After a 2019 trial, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled Mississippi “operates a system that unlawfully discriminates against persons with serious mental illness.”
By Anna Wolfe
Apr 8, 2021 12:36 PM
The New Summit School in Jackson, formerly run by Nancy New and her son Zach New. Both were arrested in 2020 on charges they allegedly stole $4 million in Mississippi welfare dollars and in 2021 on charges they defrauded the state’s education department. They have pleaded not guilty and await trial. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Nancy New, owner of New Learning Resources and New Summit School, exits the federal courthouse in Jackson on Mar. 18, 2021. New was released on bond after pleading not guilty to sixteen counts. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Nancy New and her son Zach, owners of several for-profit and nonprofit organizations, were well on their way to building an education empire in Mississippi.