KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Mental health experts said increased services for sex offenders in Missouri are coming at the expense of the severely mentally ill.
The state Department of Mental Health is opening more space to house a growing number of sex criminals. But that means taking hospital beds from somewhere else.
The Kansas City Star reports 23 sexually violent predators are being moved from a treatment center in Farmington to Fulton State Hospital, starting this week. About 25 nonviolent offenders at Fulton are being moved to the Center for Behavioral Medicine in Kansas City to make room for those transfers.
Mental health advocates said moving the nonviolent patients to Kansas City takes away space that could be used for others with severe mental illness.
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