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Updated: 7:04 AM Dec 18, 2008
Children's Psychiatric Hospital to Close
Staunton, Va. The state's budget cuts are being felt close to home. Posted: 12:11 PM Dec 17, 2008Reporter: Philip Townsend Email Address: ptownsend@whsv.com |
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Some how its always about the money. CCCA doesnt make cars or bake cakes, those people save lives. When you walk in for your shift you know your job is to keep all those kids safe and alive. None of us ever did it for the money. its always been about the kids. Today I wish I could take back my vote for Gov Kaine. Its a sorry day when a land deal trumps a kids life!!
As a wife of a CCCA employee I believe we have every right to be completly shocked by this proposal. Of course, I immediatly thought Oh my what will we do. Especially with children of our own. The job market is in the crapper!! My immediate next thought was...my children will be in school soon and will be in there with these kids. I personally dont think the general public know what some of these children are capable of. I don't think Gov Kaine knows either. Maybe he should go spend a day there. It's not only our city that has to worry about these violent children, it's the entire state. Children from all over VA come to CCCA. Apparently, a facility like this is needed otherwise they wouldn't still be receiving admissions for the past 12 years since the opening. I really think it is sad. I can't imagine being a parent of a child with severe Autism and needing help and there not being any quality help. Or a parent of an extremely violent child who is uncontrolable and no where to turn.
I work at a facility for kids and it breaks my heart that some of you are fighting the right fight but for the wrong reasons. You don't want these kids in your neighborhoods, or in your backyards... do you hear yourselves? Keeping facilities open for these kids is the right thing to do to keep them out of worse situations, worse facilities, but please rethink your wording and complaints. It's not about you and what keeps you safe in your happy little world, it's about the kids.
Currently, private hospitals refuse to take children from detention who have psychiatric problems. I cannot imagine that these facilities will magically change their mind once CCCA is closed. Also, those private hospitals won't take kids without insurance either, so they won't get mental health treatment either when CCCA closes its doors. And all this in the wake of the VA Tech shooting...I guess we will need a bigger, better Western State Hospital to accomodate all these kids when they turn 18. I just hope they don't successfully commit suicide before then.
Just some important numbers to mention...600 is the number of children served at the commonwealth, 48, which is the capacity for the center on any given day, 200 jobs lost, and again... 600 kids who will be at risk in the next year of self harm, harm towards others, and/ or without appropriate services. Oh another number...20 million... the price Staunton will pay to put development above the community and OUR children!!! What are we doing???
First of all, I hope everyone realizes that the number one goal in closing CCCA is so that the CITY of STAUNTON can SELL the land and use a portion of the money to build a NEW Western State. Oh, and what will they put in place of a refuge for troubled kids in need of emergency services--a hotel, in place of the old Western State--retail shops! I'm not sure about anyone else but I WILL NOT be taking MY FAMILY to a shopping center than sits right in front of a psychiatric hopsital for adults, most of whom have been released from jail due to mental illness. So yes, if you think a hotel and shopping center can replace the only place seriously mental ill children(some who are dangerous)have to go in the whole state of VA go ahead, close CCCA- but remember those kids will be in YOUR back yard, in class with YOUR children, and walking RIGHT beside of you.
We need to come together as a community and let the governor know that this is not acceptable. To let these children, who are already troubled, be burdened by others economic mistakes should not even be an option. I plan to fight for them, someone needs to, obviously our government see them as nothing more than an inconvience to our economy.
I am a staff at the ccca and i am not happy with the decison that has been made for the only place for kids to get the help they need. I am worried about my job but the most importment thing that worrries me is the kids and where are they going now if we close the doors. This is for the Gowernor, if you make the decison to closes the doors on the ccca it will be on your head when the older kids are in jail for killing someone or killing themself because they have no place to go to get help. I have seen kids come through these doors and these are the kinds of kids that you would not want in your house or in your back yard because of the danger that these kids can do and also having to look behind your back every day with the decison of the possiblty of this facility closing. Most of the facility's around do not take but certain insurances and private insurances but for the kids that do not have insurance will not have anywhere to go because the facility's around will not take these kids.
The closing of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents is very sad for the many children who need that kind of care but the fact that some only think of the loss of their job does not surprise me. The center is no longer exempt from scrutiny and now some who have been coasting along may just have to get out and REALLY work. This is not meant for the truely dedicated people who work there, only for some who should have been let-go long ago. Who knows, if some of the dead wood had been eliminated, the center might have remained open.
I thought it would be the fiscal policy of the governor and the City of Staunton to do what is best for the community. I do not see how shutting down two facilities to build one new facility for only adults is anyway fiscally responsible. With poor economic times such as these should the City be providing $20 million to build a new facility when the current one is operating just fine? Maybe the Commissioner of DMHMRSAS should put his own agenda aside and propose a budget cut to the governor that takes into consideration the children and not the new facility he wants. The Commissioner has long been an advocate for treating children in the community and not in inpatient facilities and obviously if these children could be treated in the community they would not go to CCCA. CCCA treats over 600 children a year, on average more than any adult state hospital. The governor really needs to evaluate his source of information for this proposed budget cut and the illogical reasoning behind it