Representatives create financial plan for Cottonwood

As the Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center enters what could be its final months of operation, state representatives have devised a plan to help keep the facility open by decreasing costs and increasing revenue.

Advocates for the local children's mental-health facility have been rallying to save it since its impending closure was announced in June as a result of more than $1 billion in state funds vetoed or withheld by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, and Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, hosted a news conference Monday morning to discuss efforts to save the facility. They were joined by a number of other representatives, including Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones.

Cottonwood, a 32-bed residential treatment facility in Cape Girardeau, is one of only two remaining state mental-health facilities for children. It serves patients between the ages of 6 and 17 with serious psychiatric disorders and focuses on education and life skills that prepare patients to re-enter classrooms and communities safely.

While Missouri Department of Mental Health director Keith Schafer and representatives from Nixon's office have claimed the closure of the facility is strictly about finances and not performance, Jones alleged the move was purely political. He said he believes the governor is using children and the mentally disabled as "political pawns for his veto messaging."

Nixon, a Democrat, announced the budget cuts shortly after a haggle with the Republican-led Legislature on a number of tax-cutting bills. The bills were approved as an effort to help free up more money for businesses and taxpayers, supporters said, but the governor vetoed the 10 bills he said would come with serious consequences to the state's economy.

Jones said the General Assembly "will likely override some of the vetoes" made by the governor, a move he expects will have bipartisan support. It also will do its best to override the budget vetoes, he said, but admits that scenario is more problematic.

"We can go back now in the veto session, Sept. 10, and we can seek to restore the vetoed moneys that the governor has taken from the budget," Jones said. "However, the governor can still then withhold from that money, even if we do replace it. But it's important for us to override those vetoes so those line items remain available in the core of the budget."

Since meeting with representatives from the governor's office and speaking at a Missouri House of Representative's Budget Committee meeting in July, Swan said she and Lichtenegger have created a plan to help keep Cottonwood operational. Ideally, Swan said the plan, which has been presented to the governor, the Department of Mental Health, and the budget and appropriations committees, would keep Cottonwood from landing on the budget chopping block again in the future.

The two representatives have proposed increasing revenue at the facility by increasing eligibility requirements for admission and increasing referrals into the facility. The plan also calls for adding acute care beds and services for youths between the ages of 17 and 21 that currently are not available.

To reduce expenses, Swan said they suggested reviewing the lease agreement with Southeast Missouri State University as well as food service options, and restructuring human resources.

In an Aug. 20 conference call, Swan said the director of the state mental health department offered to support the plan if it was proved to be financially effective. Swan estimates it could reduce the net loss to the state from $2.4 million to about $123,000, even before the cost-saving measures were implemented.

While the facility is not slated to close until the end of the year, Swan said steps toward its closure have already been taken.

While creating the new financial plan for Cottonwood, "we were notified there would be an increase in the per diem daily rate, made retroactive July 1, with another increase to take effect on Oct. 1," she said. "On that same day, staff members were also informed that layoff notices were being distributed today, Aug. 25, and tomorrow, Aug. 26."

The Cottonwood staff also has been instructed to send toys home with children that would normally be kept for future admissions, and some furniture has even been removed. Swan said the fate of Cottonwood likely would remain unknown until after the September veto session.

Jeana Terry, a psychiatric technician at Cottonwood, said the welfare of the children remains the primary concern for employees. Those who are referred to Cottonwood have already sought treatment at hospitals and other facilities and have nowhere else to go, she said.

They can go on to lead productive lives, Terry said, but not without the right help. While that help primarily involves therapy, she said it's also about providing a safe, stable environment.

"What a lot of people don't realize is some of these kids have never learned how to tie a shoe or throw a ball or even bathe themselves properly, and we teach them all of that," she said. "The first time you teach a 16-year-old to throw a football and they cry because no one's ever taken the time -- it's the little things we do as well."

Members of the public are invited to join Cottonwood staff at a 6 p.m. prayer service at The Church of the Fish and Cross, 1820 Perryville Road, on Sept. 9, the night before the veto session.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

1025 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO

1820 Perryville Road, Cape Girardeau, MO