Shortage of Care Looming for Georgia's Mentally Ill; NO ADEQUATE CHOICES as State Closes Mental Hospitals, Some Clients Have Nowhere to Turn. NEW APPROACH Expert Agrees That Communities Need Treatment Options

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Byline: WALTER C. JONES

ATLANTA - For Bonnie Moore and other parents of children with mental illness, daily struggles are challenging enough, but many fear they're reaching a breaking point because the state is releasing patients from regional mental hospitals.

It's not that these parents want to see their children continue to spend decades institutionalized. It's their worry that once released there won't be adequate treatment options in their community.

The closure of Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome later this year is the latest action to spawn widespread concern among patient families.

"I get calls from parents, sometimes three and four daily, saying 'Where do I go? What do I do? Where do I turn?' " Moore told a recent legislative subcommittee. "In this day and …