Tim Kaine Closing "Center for Children"

Where over 200 violent children are currently being treated.

How is that repeal of the estate tax working out for you, Governor?

Comments

[Grapes]

Perhaps this continued poor judgement by this Governor is one reason why he did not get an Obama cabinet post.

[t]

Three-part solution:

1) Reinstate the estate tax.

2) Defund Planned Parenthood.

3) Give the resulting savings to the Center for Children.

[Allen]

I'm glad someone in the blogosphere finally picked on the closing of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents. Shame on Tim Kaine for doing this. It's so short sighted. Some of these kids are the future Virginia Tech shooters.

[Not Larry Sabato]

Allen,

Don't you think a facility like this actually SAVES the state money? Aren't 200 violent kids on the street possibly committing crimes more expensive than housing them in Staunton with medical professionals?

[Ricktricity]

The Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents might well be thought of in terms of an emergency room and intensive care unit at a general hospital, all rolled into one. Such an analogy wouldn't be at all far from the truth of its function within the mental health system of Virginia. Children who are referred to the Commonwealth Center are frequently children either whose families have no private insurance with which to pay the high cost of inpatient mental health treatment in a private facility; have already been treated at such a facility, and have exhausted all of their insurance coverage but are not yet ready for discharge; or who are referred from such private or community-based programs to the CCCA, due to severe aggressive and violent behaviors which these facilities are not able to manage or cope with. Virginia's Governor, as well as other people in high places within the State's administrative posts seem to be looking at the children treated by the Commonwealth Center as though their needs are no different from those of children and adolescents treated at any other facility. As well, these high-ranking officials continue to perpetuate the myth that there are plenty of beds available to serve these children elsewhere within Virginia's community-based programs and/or private mental-health facilities. They seem oblivious to the fact that these children are, in many cases, very different from those treated at these other facilities, yet are no less special indiviuals who - in spite of their unpredictable behaviors -are entitled to the best care the state can possibly provide. This is especially true to those with very limited financial resources.

Another point that our elected officials seem to either not be considering, or to be in denial of is the very real possibility that the closing of this vital facility could result in an increase in the number of teen suicides within our State. Even one such preventable tragedy would be worth so much more than the 1/10 of 1% of the budget shortfall which Governor Kaine expects the closing of the Center to alleviate. Additionally, if some of these children and adolescents are not given the specialized and caring treatment interventions available at the Commonwealth Center today, the State could very well find its prison system burdoned with supporting them in years to come. This is to say nothing of the fertile ground that the State will be sowing seeds in; another very large "crack in the system" that it will be creating, for another future Cho Seung Hui, (the VA Tech shooter) to fall through.

[t]

I call on Gov. Kaine to come on this blog to explain the cutbacks to this facility, especially since the Commonwealth simultaneously subsidizes the butchers of Planned Parenthood.

Subsidizing abortionists should not take priority over helping children with special needs.

[Grapes]

We are in a deep recession. In times like these, it's hard to believe that some politicians want to publicly finance Planned Parenthood slaughterhouses. But they do.

Let's subsidize life, not death. Let's save our children not destroy them.

[Ricktricity]

For those joining us late, and/or not familiar with the subject under debate:

This is the story of a little hospital in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, perched atop a little hill adjacent to I-81's exit 222 in the city of Staunton, (Birthplace of President Woodrow Wilson, and home of the Statler Brothers). This small facility is unique within Virginia . Whereas the State maintains more than five large public mental-health institutions for adults throughout the state; this small cluster of modern buildings - (only 12 years old, completed in 1996, and looking more like a small community college satellite campus than a hospital) - The Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents (the 'Center', or CCCA) - is the only state-run public in-patient mental-health facility available to the children of Virginia. Previously known as the DeJarnette Center, (located a short 1/2 mile away in 2 large now-abandoned 1930's-era institutional buildings), this hospital has long served as the "safety net" for children and adolescents throughout the entire state of Virginia, who, either for lack of medical insurance, or as a result of their aggressive, unpredictable and sometimes violent behaviors have found themselves unable to receive adequate (if any) treatment at community-based and/or private facilities, when in acute need of inpatient mental-health treatment and care. Additionally, the Center has also long served the children of Virginia as a place for mental health evaluation for individuals under the age of 18, who have been referred by Virginia's Juvenile and Domestic court system, often with legal charges pending against them. The CCCA employs approximately 150± dedicated state employees, as well as 20± City of Staunton teachers and other educational staff who continue every child's daily school program throughout their stay at the Center.

On Thursday, December 18, 2008 it was abruptly and unexpectedly announced, (one week before Christmas), that - as a cost-saving measure and part of Governor Tim Kaine's budget-cutting proposals to the State Legislature - the Center will be closed forever by June 2009. It was also announced that the facility will stop accepting new admissions effective immediately. I cannot begin to express the shock and disbelief - not only from the staff and teachers, who will be laid off from this facility, but from Mental Health professionals and clinicians all over the state of Virginia, who are at the present moment wondering what will become of the many children that need referral to such a facility in the future. State representatives from the Governor's office, as well as from The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) have downplayed this fact, spreading the myth that these children can and will be absorbed by other, local community-based facilities, which they claim have more than enough beds to accommodate these children. In spite of reported pressure from above to support this proposal, the director of the CCCA, Joe Tuell, spoke publicly against this decision on the same day that it was announced. Part of his statement was printed 12/18/08 in the Staunton News-Leader:

"Tuell said the facility, which was projected to see 650 patients this year, has been instructed to immediately stop accepting admissions. 'The Center is the only public children's mental-health facility in the State; without it, there will be a lack of services for the patients that they see. We don't just serve the area, but the entire state. Our concern is that we have been a safety net for so many children, particularly those who in the past have not been served.'"

Some of us believe, in spite of the repeated and insistent denials from State and local officials, that the proposed closing of this vitally-important facility has little to do with balancing Virginia's budget, but has everything to do with the small piece of LAND that the Commonwealth Center was built upon 12 short years ago. It is our firm belief that the Governor's proposal to close this little hospital actually represents a cleverly-disguised case of EMMINENT DOMAIN, as that property is wanted for commercial development.

The State of Virginia and the City of Staunton have arrived at a mutually-beneficial deal: The state will begin construction in 2009 of a new Western State Hospital - which it has needed for quite some time - but in a new location. (The present hospital is adjacent to the CCCA, but sits further in from the highway than the CCCA, and is not located atop a hill). The city of Staunton has agreed to fund the last $20 Million of the new hospital's construction; that payment being made by the city when the project nears completion in 2010±. To pay for that $20 Million expenditure, the city of Staunton intends to have the 300-acre parcel of land belonging to the current WSH developed into some gargantuan new center of retail commerce; with a variety of stores, restaurants, and lodging in one enormous complex. Whereas the rest of the 300-acre property is low-lying; the land that the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents rests upon is high atop that little hill, alongside the intersection of I-81 exit 222 and VA route 250, and can clearly be seen from miles away on the interstate highway. It doesn't take a genius to conclude that the city of Staunton must surely see this little piece of property as a veritable gold-mine, a compelling signpost and lure for the motorists traveling on I-81, tempting them to stop off at this "easy off-easy on" shopping, dining and lodging complex to spend their money.

The big question that the city of Staunton now needs to convincingly answer is this: would they still agree to this same deal if the Commonwealth Center was to remain open, unchanged and unmoved from its present location?

Next installment: Governor Kaine proposes to close down the CCCA, (with its annual budget of $9.6 Million), after finding money to issue in the form of "Grants to Intergovernmental Organizations", for "Fin Asst for Economic Development" for these publicly-traded global corporations (NYSE:QI and NYSE:MU):

08/15/2008 - (for Fiscal Year 2009) - Qimonda Richmond, LLC - $11,750,000.00
09/22/2008 - (for Fiscal Year 2009) - Micron Technology, Inc - $3,720,000.00

You can see this and other interesting expenditures of the VA government at the Auditor of Public Accounts website:

http://datapoint.apa.virginia.gov

Put into the advanced search on that website either 'Qimonda' or 'Micron Technology'; or search by object type.

Both of these companies are computer memory chip makers, which have factories in Virginia, among other places around the globe. Virginia is - (and has been for quite a few years!) - propping up corporations that have factories in Virginia, while throwing its own employees to the lions...

[t]

t moans at the iniquity afforded the most vulnerable in our society.

t mooooans

[Loudoun Insider]

Can all you democratic lemmings now admit that Kaine is as much a business-bought politician as any other politician, R or D? Rick's post is most illuminating. Between his shilling for Dominion, and now this, how can anyone hold Kaine up as some progressive messiah?

[Allen]

And this:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MELTDOWN_JUVENILE_JUSTICE_VAOL-?SITE=VASTA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Generic Viagra]

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[סופרדסק]

I seem unaware to the truth that these kids are, in many situations, very different from those handled at these other features, yet are no less particular individuals who despite their unforeseen habits.