Put brakes on closing

Ideology is to holders of elected office a useful extravagance, a thing to which to cling until political imperatives, irresistible in their allure, beckon. So explains the shuffling of partisan feet that leaves Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, calling for privatization to slash costs and local Republicans despairing at the prospect. This time, the policy permutations are inspired by the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents, the proposed closure of which stirs shades of gray where sharper philosophical contrasts generally are seen.

A $2.9-billion deficit sticks to Kaine like a shadow. To chase it away, he plans an array of cuts, including $400 million for public education, which means that nothing is sacrosanct. Shuttering the psychiatric center in Staunton will allow Kaine to trim 100 jobs from the state payroll and save millions of dollars. It is the modus operandi of Democrats in moments such as these to cite costs not recorded in accounting ledgers, but red remains the prevailing hue here despite last fall’s attempts to paint the Valley blue, leaving Republicans to make the case for the Commonwealth Center.

Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, is among those making the attempt. He worries that privatization will not fill the mammoth void likely to be left when the center closes over the summer, and he says that the six-month timetable set by Kaine is too hasty. Privatization is an option too frequently disdained by government, the fingers of which spread like tentacles. But opponents of closing the Commonwealth Center have points that warrant a hearing.

The center’s mission and role in the system of psychiatric care are unique. As its full name explains, the facility serves children and adolescents, whose access to psychiatric care is more limited than adults’. The Commonwealth Center, in fact, is the only hospital in the state that accepts children and adolescents. Many of the more than 600 patients treated there annually have been denied admission elsewhere, sometimes because of inadequate insurance, other times because of their violent behavior, which local agencies and even some hospitals are ill-equipped to manage.

Kaine’s plan provides $2 million for private hospital beds, but this is only an ostensible solution. After several days, children and youths who exhibit violent behavior frequently are directed by private hospitals and community agencies to the Commonwealth Center. Where now will they go? Kaine’s proposal does not answer this question. What of patients whose insurance benefits have been spent or who lack money to pay for care? They frequently find their way to the Commonwealth Center, too. Again, where will they go?

Residue from the April 2007 rampage at Virginia Tech remains, the result of which is that whenever the topic of mental health is raised in this state so too will be the name of Seung-Hui Cho, who meandered through the mental health system before toppling over the brink. We do not subscribe to the idea that unthinkable tragedies should mold policy, but we recognize the center’s value in helping to stop the ticking of time bombs.

Politicians who endeavor to shrink government by relinquishing state control to the private sector generally can find a sympathetic ear here. Further, we are dismayed by some politicians, including state Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, who believe that limited government is a cause for so-called conservatives only when they are in the minority.

Nonetheless, Hanger, Landes and others are right to urge Kaine to consider more carefully the implications of closing the Commonwealth Center. We are willing to support the move if it can be shown that the concerns its backers have raised have been sufficiently addressed. Kaine so far has failed in this.

Until it can be made clear that children and youths, particularly those prone to violence, can be assured of treatment elsewhere, the center should remain open. Otherwise, the human costs of Kaine’s plan surely will exceed by far its limited fiscal benefit. The price, we might well discover, is one none of us wants pay.