EDITORIAL: Take politics out of chidren's mental health care

Feb. 05--With a new St. Louis County executive in charge, it's time to take politics out of the county's Children's Service Fund and to accelerate spending more than $70 million in the fund on the kids it's meant to help.

County Executive Steve Stenger has taken the correct first step in getting rid of the fund's interim executive director, Julie Leicht. Ms. Leicht's "interim" tenure lasted more than two years, despite her having had no prior experience in children's issues. She did have valuable experience as a political supporter and staff member for then-County Executive Charlie Dooley.

Mr. Stenger has replaced Ms. Leicht with another interim executive director, David Ewing, the fund's former comptroller. A spokesman for Mr. Stenger, Cordell Whitlock, said Ms. Leicht has been "reassigned."

Mr. Ewing said Wednesday that the fund had a bank account of about $81 million at the beginning of the year. The balance today is probably about $73 million after paying out invoices on services that have been delivered, he said.

Voters created the fund in 2008, approving a quarter-cent sales tax to raise about $40 million a year for children's mental health needs. The big question about the fund is why so much money has accumulated in a bank account instead of being spent where it's needed.

During last fall's election campaign, Mr. Stenger said he wanted some of the funds to be made available to support various needs of children in the Ferguson area following the police shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown last August.

Mr. Ewing said that $1.4 million was spent out of the fund in the Ferguson area from August through November and that when all the bills are submitted, the fund will have spent nearly $3.9 million there last year.

Mr. Ewing says the fund is following best practices by paying for services after they have been delivered instead of disbursing funds beforehand. Plans are to spend $45 million to $50 million a year, he said.

Here's another good practice the fund should adopt: Let an independent board of directors administer the fund. The board members would be appointed by the county executive, subject to confirmation by the County Council. The board would hire the fund's staff.

That suggestion was made recently on these pages by Karl Wilson, chairman of the board of Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri, and Mark Utterback, CEO of the organization. They said the move "could remove any doubt about the efficacy of the CSF and the services it supports."

Taking the hiring responsibility out of politics would eliminate cronyism and potential political favors being repaid with a position on the fund's staff. This would require that Mr. Stenger appoint a highly skilled board that itself would be free of political obligations. Children's needs would be the priority.

Mssrs. Wilson and Utterback noted that voters in St. Charles and Jefferson counties and St. Louis city also have approved similar children's services funds, as have other communities in Missouri. All seem to be working without significant complaints. The only one that has been mired in controversy over its structure and implementation is the St. Louis County fund.

Professionalizing the board and its staff is the way Mr. Stenger should proceed.

Mr. Stenger is currently working on making new board appointments and reviewing current distribution of the fund's money, Mr. Whitlock said. The fund is part of the countywide audit that has been ordered by the new county executive.

These are good steps. Following them up with a complete political cleansing would go a long way toward reassuring taxpayers that their dollars are being spent the way they intended -- for the children.

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