Efforts ramp up to keep Cottonwood facility open

The fight to keep Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center open has expanded beyond Cape Girardeau.

Cottonwood employees, mental health professionals and state representatives attended a Missouri House of Representative's Budget Committee meeting in Jefferson City on Thursday to offer testimonies and prevent the facility's impending closure by 2015.

Bob Dale, director and therapist at The Dale & Hancock Center in Cape Girardeau, was among those who attended and spoke before the committee. While he said he couldn't put a number on the meeting's attendance, he said additional chairs had to be brought in to accommodate the crowd.

"We had an impressive showing of support," Dale said. "But more than just the showing of support from the people from Cape was the support that we saw from the legislators on the committee."

He said it was gratifying to see how many legislators on the 30-person bipartisan committee wanted to see Cottonwood remain open. Only one member seemed to agree with closing the facility, Dale said.

Dale and state Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, also met with officials from Gov. Jay Nixon's office on Thursday to discuss the future of the facility, which serves children between the ages of 6 and 17 with serious psychiatric disorders.

Cottonwood's closure was announced in late June after Nixon cut more than $1 billion from the state's budget, citing a concern the Legislature will override his vetoes of 10 tax-cutting bills in the September veto session. He said he believes the bills would come with consequences to the state's economy. Nearly $500,000 of Cottonwood's budget was restricted as part of the across-the-board vetoes and freezes on funding.

"We were told that this is all about the budget," said Dale of the meeting with officials from the governor's office. "That because of the overrides and the decrease in revenue to the state, that drastic measures had to be taken. Part of what was said was in the next override session ... if they [the Legislature] don't override, they're saying there's a strong chance that Cottonwood could stay open."

As the Democratic governor and a Republican-led Legislature continue to haggle over tax-cutting legislation, many have decried the governor's decision to use children's mental health services as an alleged political chess piece. And Dale said Missouri's Department of Mental Health director Keith Schafer made it clear Thursday it was the governor's decision to close the facility.

"[Schafer] was singing the praises of Cottonwood and said that he did not choose to close Cottonwood," said Dale. "He wasn't even given a dollar amount to cut from the department of mental health budget. What he did was get together with his people and they drew up a list of programs, presented those to Gov. Nixon, and Gov. Nixon chose which programs to cut."

After the committee meeting, those who came to share their concerns about Cottonwood were invited to meet with Swan, Rep. Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) and representatives from state Sen. Wayne Wallingford (R-Cape Girardeau) and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's offices. Dale said the group discussed plans in the battle to keep the local facility open.

A petition is circling to keep it open, he said, and Tuesday they hope to have the phones of local legislators "ringing off the hook" as people call senators, representatives and the governor's office to express support for Cottonwood. The biggest event will be Aug. 2 at Lawless Harley-Davidson in Scott City, which will feature live music, children's activities and guest speakers as an effort to raise awareness.

Cottonwood supporters also have taken to social media sites to garner support with a change.org petition, a Save Cottonwood page on Facebook and tweeting #SaveCottonwood2014 on Twitter.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Jefferson City, Mo.

Cape Girardeau, Mo.