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State Representative John Ward
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4333
For more information contact: Sandy Connolly 651-296-8877
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WARD BILL WOULD PREVENT STATE DEPARTMENT FROM CLOSING DOWN PROGRAMS WITHOUT LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL
St. Paul, MN – This February, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and State Operated Services (SOS) abruptly closed the Brainerd Children and Adolescent Behavioral Health Systems (CABHS) program. Legislation authored by Rep. John Ward to prevent a similar action in the future passed on the House floor on Wednesday.
"The process of shutting down this valuable service for our area was disappointing and frustrating," said Ward. "With little warning and no real justification, the CABHS program was shut down, leaving our community and our children stranded, sending them now as far away as North Dakota or Canada for mental health services."
The CABHS program served young people with severe and major mental illness issues. Despite numerous efforts by Rep. Ward and others to set up a meeting to discuss the future of CABHS, as well as the future of the children the program served, no open discussion or valid reasons were ever provided by DHS and SOS.
The legislation passed on Wednesday will prevent the state from ever closing down an agency in this manner in the future without legislative authority.
"This process took place behind closed doors, with no public, CABHS program staff or legislative input allowed," said Ward. "I believe the decision to close CABHS was based on misleading and inaccurate information, and as a result, our community and our children lost a program that literally saved lives."
According to Ward, the CABHS program in Willmar remains open, but is not large enough to take care of the needs of northern Minnesota.
"Our state departments are here to meet the needs of the people, and at the very least, to listen to them," said Ward. "We cannot let another program fall by the wayside to bureaucracy and misinformation.
That is why I proposed this legislation that would require DHS and SOS to receive legislative approval before making any more changes which will affect or impact our children and families with very real and serious needs."
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