Ironic, isn't it? For 17 months, I have been following the journey of Phil Wiggins, who suffers from schizophrenia and has lived in state psychiatric hospitals for nearly 44 of his 62 years.

In the name of mental health reform, the state has been absolutely intent on removing this man, and dozens like him, from the hospital and returning him to the community.

That would be a community he hasn't participated in since Dwight Eisenhower was president. But never mind.

The federal courts say that the mentally ill and developmentally disabled need to be cared for as close to home as possible.

So despite concerns about Wiggins' fascination with fire and chemicals, despite his nearly fatal experience in a group home three years ago, he was moved out of Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro into a group home in Zebulon.

Here's the irony: As Wiggins' sister Louise Jordan has been struggling to stabilize his care, the state has been formulating a plan (now scaled back) to cut funding for community programs.

Why?

In large part, to pay for the running of our state psychiatric hospitals.

Arrghh.

I recall, in the summer of 2004, sitting in one state mental health administrator's office taking notes on how the savings from closing the hospitals would fund community programs for people such as Wiggins.

What a bunch of bunk.

Admissions to psychiatric hospitals have gone up, not down, since the "reforms" began. The reason: Services in the community are not yet in place. There's a stunner.

Look at what happened to Wiggins.

He made significant progress at first in his group home, working closely with his case manager, Anita High.

But the home discovered he was "cheeking" his medications; he tried to start a fire in the back yard. The home's owner had to hire extra night help because Wiggins wanders in the night.

Finally, his sister received notice that Wiggins was being evicted in 30 days.

Nearly a month later, Wake County mental health officials are still searching for a new home that can meet Wiggins' needs. They're looking for a daytime program that will accept him. They have no prayer of being able to afford the sort of 24-hour care he needs.

And this is a guy the state has a great stake in making sure "makes it" in the community. After all, you and I are watching.

It should come as no surprise that, amid all this turmoil, Wiggins is regressing.

So much for the grand assurances that hospital savings would bolster community care.

Somebody once told me that it's easier to cut funding to "programs" than to institutions.

I guess that's right. It's easier to start "trimming" in the community than to ignore the power bill at a place such as Dorothea Dix.

But remember, when we're talking about cutting and trimming, we're talking about real people who are very sick.

We're talking about my friend Phil.