EDITORIAL: Report shines light on state's mental health system

June 04--Are we failing our children?

A report from the federal government says West Virginia relies too heavily on institutionalizing our children who suffer from mental health issues, which is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a year-long investigation by the Justice Department found.

Children in custody of the state's Department of Health and Human Resources are too often placed in segregated residential treatment facilities and often don't receive in-home or community-based services that can help them.

The state also has failed to implement a response plan to meet federal requirements that say mentally disabled children should be placed in the community whenever possible or appropriate. Rather, it seems the state has grown more reliant on residential treatment facilities, expanding bed capacity from 1,085 beds in May 2013 to 1,163 beds in December 2014, according to the Beckley Register-Herald.

The Department of Justice has made several recommendations, including expanding in-home and community-based services, modifying policies to ensure family input and changing procedures to make sure kids aren't placed in institutions longer than necessary.

DHHR says it is working to meet those recommendations by expanding services and working with the federal government to meet benchmarks.

Children aged 12-17 comprised 71 percent of out-of-home placements, according to the DOJ. These are children who are coming into their own and who could probably most benefit from community services aimed to meet their needs. Pulling adolescents from their environment, taking them out of the school system and housing them with other children in facilities where resources are often strained seems like the worst possible thing to do, and the least helpful.

Thanks to the DOJ report, the public now has a picture of what the mental health system looks like for West Virginia's children. We implore the DHHR to continue working with state and federal government, appropriate agencies and, most importantly, families to find solutions for these children who need it most.

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