An agreement is near between the state and those communities that filed suit aga

An agreement is near between the state and those communities that filed suit against it on behalf of the the mentally ill. The proposed settlement would require the state to establish a statewide support network, with services available to anyone with severe mental disabilities, regardless of whether they had been institutionalized at Augusta Mental Health Institute or elsewhere. This would extend services from the 3,000 people now eligible to about 10,000. That the proposed settlement doesn\u27t indicate how the services will be funded or specifically require the state to pay concerns Portland and its co-plaintiffs. Still, Portland officials believe the agreement extends significant rights to a large group of individuals who are now unprotected