The North Carolina Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee on Wednesday took up the latest annual proposal to shut down Wright School, a Durham residential campus of the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services for kids with serious emotional and behavioral disorders.
Here’s the text of a item from the Proposed Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 1030:
CLOSURE OF WRIGHT SCHOOL SECTION 12F.8.(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall not allow any new admissions or readmissions to the Wright School after June 30, 2016. The Department shall, in consultation with local management entities/managed care organizations, develop a plan to transition all students enrolled at the Wright School to other appropriate educational and treatment settings.
SECTION 12F.8.(b) By September 30, 2016, the Department shall permanently cease operations at the Wright School.
SECTION 12F.8.(c) G.S. 122C-181(a)(5)b. is repealed effective October 1, 2016.
As reporter Colin Campbell observed in The News Observer on Tuesday:
A similar Senate proposal last year didn’t get agreement from the House.
North Carolina Health News is appropriately incredulous:
#NCGA #Senate budget cuts Wright School. Again. What is this, 3rd? 4th year in a row? — NC Health News (@NCHealthNews) June 1, 2016
