(Primghar)– A northwest Iowa county says it’s run out of money to help scores of residents with their psychiatric medication and counseling.
O’Brien county leaders say they’re tapped out because Iowa is shifting to a new system and because the Governor vetoed $13 million that legislators approved to help counties make the transition.
County board of supervisors chairman Thomas Farnsworth says under the old state system, counties financed much of the care for their residents, even if those people lived in other counties. That arrangement ended July 1st, and counties now are responsible for the costs for everyone living within their borders.
Farnsworth says O’Brien county has solid residential treatment facilities for the mentally ill that have attracted several people from outside the county.
(From the Associated Press.)
