Saving Cottonwood

It took considerable effort to keep the Cottonwood Children's Residential Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau open, but Gov. Bob Holden and the area's state legislators have reached an agreement on funding for the center.

Staff members at the center and parents of residents were elated at the news, which came last week. Many of the parents had lobbied hard in the past six weeks to keep the center operating, citing its need for their families and its relevance for the community.

Cottonwood is a residential treatment center for children ages 6 to 17 who have behavioral and emotional problems. It can house up to 32 children at a time and is on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

In January, Holden excluded the treatment center and other facilities elsewhere in the state from his budget proposal. Shortly thereafter, area lawmakers began looking for funding that would allow them to put the center back in the state budget. The current House appropriations bill for mental health funding, which is still pending in the legislature, includes $2.27 million for Cottonwood.

Federal money up to almost $825,000 will make up the difference Cottonwood needs to operate. And the amount of federal dollars available could more than double once the center is certified to receive federal reimbursements through Medicaid. That process has already begun.

The governor's office applauded the bipartisan effort to save the center while reducing the state's financial burden.

Parents see the move as one that helps save their children and ultimately their families.

It seems that everyone can benefit from the efforts made to save Cottonwood. Families and children get the care they need, jobs are saved and legislators can point to another example of how they've worked for the betterment of their community.