Kaine wrong to make cuts to mental health services

February 17 was an unexpected and surprising morning at St. Francis Catholic Church in Staunton. The first lady of Virginia and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine sat one church pew away from me.

After Mass concluded, I dashed outside to greet the Kaine family. I stood next to his vehicle with his security staff. As the governor approached, I introduced myself with a handshake and welcomed the Kaine family to the Valley. Then I told him: “As an employee of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents, we need more state funding put forth in the budget for mental health in Virginia.”

Gov. Kaine answered my questions immediately: “It is my number one priority and agenda in Virginia to provide more funding for mental health, especially after the horrific shooting incident on Virginia Tech’s campus.”

So my question now to the governor is, why did you flip-flop and schedule the closure of our facility for children? (“Commonwealth Center part of governor’s cuts,” Dec. 17).

Children one day will become adults. We are here for the children of Virginia. We are open 24-7. We don’t turn children away in need of help. We have law enforcement, public school systems, foster parents, the Department of Juvenile Services, mothers and fathers and private hospitals coming to our front door for services. Throwing money at the private sector will not solve the problem in Virginia. You are so wrong, because they are so selective in who qualifies for their hospitals.

Gov. Kaine, I urge you to reconsider your decision not to close CCCA down. These kids are either going to be walking the streets, in prison or dead. Our children are our number one priority in Virginia and no one does it better than Virginia state employees.

Dale Hewitt

Staunton