UPFRONT by State Representative Dave Heaton
January 14, 2011
My first column of the session is usually a light one
speaking of the ceremonial events that occur during the first week. On Tuesday,
Governor Culver gave his State of the State address and on Wednesday, acting
Chief Justice Cady presented his State of the Judiciary address.
In one of his last major decisions in office, Governor
Culver completed action on his reorganization of state government. Last year,
he committed to reducing the cost of state government by $84 million in this
year’s budget. One of the ways to achieve these savings was allowing state
employees to retire early. The state also implemented other efficiencies.
These were not enough to save the $84 million. The Legislature knew that
additional cuts would have to be made. Governor Culver was given the power to
make additional cuts to certain parts of state government……. day-to-day
operations.
When the early retirement process ended last spring,
Governor Culver knew how much he was going to have to find in additional
savings. He could have chosen to make changes when the new budget year started
on July 1. That would have allowed for departments and agencies to spread out
the reductions over the whole year. Governor Culver didn’t do that. Instead of
acting quickly and spreading out the reductions, Governor Culver chose to wait
and make his decisions after the New Year.
He waited until two days before he left office to
announce them. Because he had waited, and the reduction could only be applied
to the last four months of the year, the impact would be four times greater than
if applied to a full fiscal year.
DHS and Corrections earned the brunt of the reductions
which could severely cripple services and would make our correctional facilities
almost, if not, impossible to run.
DHS was handed an additional reduction of $6 million and
the director, Charlie Krogmeier, was told to figure out a plan to meet it. Two
plans have been presented.
Plan A would eliminate 129 beds and 136 staff at three
of the four state run mental health facilities, close the Gero-psychiatric unit
at Clarinda, reduce the beds by 17 at the Boy’s Training School at Eldora, and
eliminate the 20 beds for boys deemed “child in need of assistance” at Toledo.
Plan B would close the 20 bed adult psychiatric unit at
Clarinda, reduce by 12 adult psych beds at Cherokee MHI, close a 30 bed
psychiatric unit for children at Independence, and close the substance abuse
program at our Mount Pleasant MHI.
Neither of these plans is acceptable and spell disaster
for those who would be using services and would result in costing the state more
because these Iowans would have to continue to receive services but in a more
expensive setting.
Iowa desperately needs all of its mental health beds.
Local CPCs find it extremely difficult to locate a bed for a seriously ill
client, who many times has to be transported by county law enforcement over 100
miles to an MHI or a hospital with a vacant bed. Plan B would leave just 12
beds for all of western Iowa. This is not acceptable.
Iowa’s troubled youth are addressed no better. The
facilities at Toledo, Independence, and Eldora are designated as “places of last
resort”. The effected youth have been in multiple settings prior to their final
placement, rejected again and again by providers of treatment and foster care as
being too difficult. The alternative would be to place these children out of
state at double the present cost of treatment.
Iowa’s most severely mentally ill occupy the 30 beds at
the PMIC unit at Independence. They have proven to be too difficult to treat at
Iowa’s other PMICs. These severely mentally ill children will be placed at
facilities outside the state, perhaps Lacrosse WI, at more than double the cost.
A hard cap of 150 beds at Eldora will adversely affect
our juvenile justice system. The boys that are sent to Eldora are deemed by the
judge to be in need of a very structured and secure environment. There is no
alternative in Iowa to provide for these needs. Again expensive out of state
placement is the alternative.
Lastly the proposed closing of the substance abuse unit
at Mt. Pleasant will not save the state a “dime”. Of the 450 to 500 men and
women who are treated here annually, there is no community capacity in the
system for treatment. The substance abuse agencies across the state are at
capacity. There is no room for any more or the system could collapse.
Mt. Pleasant currently handles many of the state’s most
difficult clients. Most of them will probably end up in prison at a much higher
cost to the state than the 28 day treatment program at Mt. Pleasant.
It is unfortunate that Governor Culver chose to
implement his cut in this manner. But, it is not the final word. We now have a
new governor and a new administration. And that gives us hope that a different
route can be found to achieve the savings needed.
This last weekend I had a discussion with Chuck Palmer,
the new DHS director. He said he realized the additional costs the two plans
would place on the state. He said he is working on some alternatives. I will
meet with him this week and I hope the news will be good, not only for Mt.
Pleasant and the other affected communities, but most of all, those Iowans,
young and old, who are suffering from mental illness and substance abuse.
The Culver Cut does point out the fact that Iowans need
to reassess how we deliver mental health services in Iowa. I was happy to
discover this week that legislators from all over the state, regardless of
party, are committed to working together to adapt our mental health system. Our
joint goal is to provide the best possible services to Iowans in an affordable
manner to the taxpayer.
As we begin the task of redesigning the system, we will
look for new and improved ways to serve Iowans with special needs. This may
include new ways of serving Iowans at Mount Pleasant MHI and the other
institutions. By working together and being open to different options, we can
build a mental health system that meets the needs of the 21st century. And we
can make the Mount Pleasant MHI an integral part of that system.
Visitors to the Capitol this week included; Access
Energy board of directors, Larry Bentler, Houghton; Anna Lorber, New London;
Marge Burden, Brian Roth, John Freeland, Paul and Joyce Dennison, John and Janet
Roederer, and Tony Dickinson, all of Mount Pleasant.
My mailing address is:
Dave Heaton, State Representative, State
House, Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Phone: 515-281-7327 ~ Fax: 515-281-6958
E-mail:
dave.heaton@legis.state.ia.us
Web page:
http://www.daveheaton.net
If you have any
issues or concerns, please contact me.
Be sure to
include your name and address with any communication to my office.
State Rep. Dave
Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, represents the 91st House District,
which includes
all of Henry County and the northern half of Lee County.
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