The Georgia Senate passed a $409 million budget line item Friday to build a 300-bed forensic psychiatric hospital — the largest mental health investment the state would make since the 1960s.

The vote came six days after a federal court released Georgia from a 16-year ban on constructing such facilities.

Candice Broce, director of Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services, answers lawmakers’ questions during a hearing Friday about her agency’s budget deficit. Photo by Jordan Anderson for The ...

Athens homeless shelters, local government and residents provided extensive community support to unhoused individuals during ...