The area mental health office serving Granville County, about 165 miles northeast of Charlotte, offered counseling, but not residential treatment. Across North Carolina, thousands of children are denied extensive mental health services each year because the state has little money to cover the costs - even when federal Medicaid dollars are available to help pay for it. Disability advocates say Wade's case is a frightening example of the fallout. Without help, without treatment, some children become criminals. Communities are put in greater danger.
Troubled kids lose the chance of building productive lives.
And the state ends up paying anyway - for a jail cell instead of a treatment bed. I spent two years crying, begging them to help me with this situation. But everyone just kept slamming doors in my face. Ellis says she doesn't expect her son to escape punishment, particularly for a violent crime. But she wants to see him in treatment.