Save the CCCA – for the kids
Column by David Cox
Submit guest columns: freepress2@ntelos.net
God forbid, next winter I slip on the ice, bang my head, and sustain major injury. Our rescue squad right away gets me to Stonewall Jackson Hospital which provides immediate initial care. But the damage is too great for SJH to handle. They transfer me ASAP to the University of Virginia Hospital where an ICU bed awaits me, and brain surgeons prepare to work their miracles. Thank goodness, I can take advantage of the continuum of health care in our area.
God forbid, next winter a neighborhood child encounters teenaged angst in a big way. Parents try their best, get counseling and other help at hand in our community. But a crisis erupts that is more than anyone here, including professionals, can handle. The young person needs the equivalent of the UVA Hospital, one specializing in juvenile mental health. But it’s not there. The state closed the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents in nearby Staunton over the summer. SJH or the jail may be the only alternatives, neither of which wants to, or can, handle the crisis.
There is genuine danger that the continuum of health care in our state will soon be limited. CCCA is reportedly on the budgetary chopping block. It shouldn’t be. Shutting down an outstanding facility that treats youth in crisis with rare expertise is as foolishly shortsighted as closing the Natural Bridge Juvenile Learning Center. Continue reading “Save the CCCA – for the kids” »
Saving Gabe, Part II
Julie Irvine has been fighting for the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents for the past several weeks. Now she’s facing another fight.
“I have no insurance at the end of the month,” said Irvine, whose 9-year-old son, Gabe, has been in and out of hospitals dating back to last summer for treatment for depression and pervasive development disorder, a form of autism, and who is now out of a job. Continue reading “Saving Gabe, Part II” »
The future of the CCCA
The future of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents is still up in the air.
We want to know what you think about the proposed closing of the Center.
Join AFP editor Chris Graham in a community discussion here in Sound Off! to share your thoughts about the CCCA issue.
You can also share your opinions with us toll-free at 888.943.0555. Continue reading “The future of the CCCA” »
Governor playing politics with CCCA closing?
What if I was wrong about Gov. Tim Kaine being wrong on the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents issue? A friend asked me to consider this today, and I find what he had to say quite intriguing.
Consider that the governor might be playing some politics with a certain member of the House of Delegates whose legislative district happens to be home to the CCCA, I was asked to imagine. In this scenario, Kaine really has no intention of cutting funding for the Center, and is playing a game of brinksmanship with State Del. Chris Saxman to get Saxman to come around on his hard and fast adherence to the philosophy of privatizing government services in the name of saving state taxpayer money. Continue reading “Governor playing politics with CCCA closing?” »
Advisory committee to meet at CCCA Tuesday
An advisory committee with a narrow focus of providing advice regarding the proposed closing of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents in Staunton will hold its first meeting on Tuesday. Continue reading “Advisory committee to meet at CCCA Tuesday” »
Budget amendment tied to CCCA gains support in House
One part of Staunton State Del. Chris Saxman’s proposal to prevent the closure of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents is moving ahead gaining support in the Virginia General Assembly. Continue reading “Budget amendment tied to CCCA gains support in House” »
Saxman offers proposal to keep CCCA open
State Del. Chris Saxman has a plan for keeping the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents open.
“The Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents serves a critical role for children and families in the Commonwealth, and that is why we are doing everything we can to see that this resource remains open” said Saxman, who is introducing a budget amendment to restore the $6 million in funding for the Staunton-based Commonwealth Center, a 40-bed mental-health facility that provides mental-health services to children and adolescents who by and large are not able to get those services from private-sector providers. Continue reading “Saxman offers proposal to keep CCCA open” »
Rick Gibson | Moving the CCCA?
Yesterday, Del. Chris Saxman (R-20th) said that he’s crunched the numbers and found the $6 million needed to keep the CCCA hospital afloat. Interesting, however, were the further remarks from Saxman, who stated that “saving the CCCA will require sacrifice. He went on to say, “To a person at that facility, it’s not about their jobs, it’s about the children,” says Saxman. “If we have to move it, they’re fine with that. They just want these kids to be cared for.” Interesting. Up until this point, no mention was made about having to actually get rid of the current site of CCCA, newly-opened only 12 years ago. Continue reading “Rick Gibson | Moving the CCCA?” »
Rick Gibson | The other side of the story on privatizing psychiatric services
I’ve just read Leonard Gilroy’s Dec. 31, 2008 story concerning Virginia Gov. Kaine’s proposal to close The Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents. I feel that he has reported on only one side of this controversial story. There is much more to it. I, for one, believe that equal time should have been given to the opposing side of the story, supported by mental-health professionals from across the state, Virginia Tech families, parents of former and current patients, and even former CCCA patients themselves. Continue reading “Rick Gibson | The other side of the story on privatizing psychiatric services” »
Is there a plan post-Commonwealth Center? Of course there isn’t
The state is closing the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents as part of a strategy to shift mental-health care for children to the private sector and local community services boards.
OK.
Except that the closing is the result of the state budget shortfall.
Got it.
I think we have our real motivation right there. Continue reading “Is there a plan post-Commonwealth Center? Of course there isn’t” »
Staunton moving forward with $20M project at WSH site
Some bad news in the short term for Staunton came out of the governor’s budget message to the Virginia General Assembly today. And then there was the good news.
“The construction of the new Western State Hospital and development of the existing hospital property come as great news for Staunton,” said city manager Steve Owen, announcing the city’s plans to move forward with the proposed development of the 266-acre site that is the current home to WSH. Continue reading “Staunton moving forward with $20M project at WSH site” »
Chris Graham: Breakfast is overrated, anyway
Posted by afp on February 19, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
You remember Tip O’Neill, of course. Mr. “All Politics Is Local.”
What’s burning my buns today: an editorial in the newspaper put out by our friends up the street at the News Virginian that makes this nonsensical stretch. First to what should make sense to self-styled conservatives, in the form of the proposal by Gov. Bob McDonnell to sell the Staunton-based Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents. With a Franklin, Tenn.,-based company that already runs 10 facilities in Virginia among the possible interested suitors, this would seem to be a win-win – in that the service is something that somebody in the private sector already does, and does at least decently well; and transferring the management of the CCCA to the private-sector entity would take the cost of operations off the government’s hands and then also off the backs of hardworking taxpayers. Continue reading “Chris Graham: Breakfast is overrated, anyway” »
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