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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2006 4A djuunuil OPINION Daniel F. Evans Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Don Moncrief Managing Editor Letters to the Editor Partnership needed Over the last several weeks, officials from the Department of Human Resources have toured the state to justify their restructuring of Georgia’s mental health system and to offer their explanations for the results of that restructuring. Because the effects of that restruc turing have been devastating to many of its consumers and their families and because it is an election year, there has been a good bit of blaming and finger-pointing dur ing these visits and in other political forums. The Community Service Board of the Pheonix Center serves Crawford, Peach, and Houston counties. The members of this CSB wish to clarify several misconcep tions and misinformation that have emerged from these forums. A combination of five years of budget cuts in state con tracts and the move to a very restrictive “fee for service” approach to funding from the state and federal level (i.e. managed care, Medicaid reimbursements, etc) have resulted in less money coming into the Pheonix Center. Anyone who manages a family budget knows that if the money you bring home is reduced and/or the money you bring home cannot be used as you see fit, then you must reduce your expenditures overall and redistribute the money you have left. To blame the CSB’s for “choosing” to cut services is frankly dishonest on the part of DHR. They fully understand the impact of the changes they are making and if they believe that these changes will result in better services for our communities, then they need to stand behind the changes proudly and explain their deci sion so we all can understand them. Community Service Boards are comprised of volun teers from the community who provide oversight for a local agency whose only goal is to be a safety net for the chronically mentally ill in our communities. The Phoenix Center is the smallest of the state’s CSB’s. We have always been a leader in programming and services and our yearly audits prove that we have a long history of managing our funds in an exemplary manner with no audit exceptions in over 20 years. Even in the face of the current chaos. We have a dedicated and com mitted staff that is scrambling to figure out how to use the current system to meet the needs of our clients. Our Community Service Board does not have the power to tax or generate significant funds on our own, so we depend on the state and federal government to provide us the funding on behalf of the citizens. DHR has made significant changes in how they fund and how much they fund and the federal government has done the same. The result has been a complicated and confusing pro cess that has caused our CSB to close programs that we feel significantly impact the safety and quality of life in our community. Underserved and ill-served mentally ill adults and children will wind up in our jails and alterna tive schools which are ill equipped to meet their needs. This impact affects everyone in the community, not just the consumers. We have spent the last five years alerting our local and state officials to the impact we knew these changes would bring. We have warned them again and again in letters and in face to face meetings. We have seriously explored a merger with the Rivers Edge CSB, but our financial future looked too bleak and their own challenges too overwhelming for them to complete a merger. What has beeti the response of DHR to our warnings and our attempts to handle them ourselves? It was only when we were at the brink of closing our doors did the state agree to give us a one time “bail out” of $1,000,000 so we could continue to function. This was an admission that we had been under-funded for several years and that our demise would reflect on their ability to manage our state’s health care system. Repeated requests and prom ises to provide technical assistance along with the one time funds have been ignored by DHR. If they believe that the system they have created can successfully meet the needs of our community, they need to be willing to work side-by-side with us. Coming into our community and seeking to undermine the confidence our local agen cies and officials have in us, is not the way to build a true partnership. A partnership between state and local agencies is exactly what it will take to tackle the tremen dous challenges that face us in serving the indigent, the uninsured, and the powerless in our communities. We are anxious to begin that partnership but our calls for honest dialogue and true collaboration continue to be ignored and our warnings unheeded. The biggest losers are the clients and their families and the unsuspecting citizens of our community. Dr. Ruth O’Dell, Chairman Community Service Board Phoenix Center in Perry School safety is hot issue Recent tragic events around the country have brought the issue of school safety into the public eye this week. At the Georgia Department of Education and in all of our schools, the safety of students is our top priority everyday. While we cannot predict when an incident may occur, we can prepare. There are many state and federal laws that ensure that our schools and school systems have an emer gency plan in place and have policies and procedures for school visitors. You can view these policies by fol lowing the link at the bottom of this message. Our local systems also have additional policies and procedures to make sure our children are safe in their schools. We also have a hotline for students to call anony mously if they become aware of any threat of vio lence at their school. That hotline 1-877-SAY STOP operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is answered either by the Georgia Department of Education or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. For parents, teachers, school employees and, most par ticularly, students, stories such as yesterday’s tragedy in Pennsylvania can be very unsettling. See LETTERS, page {A Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus Standout news and notes Some items in the news that stand out and call for comments. For example: ■ Disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley, admittedly a pedophile, is now trying to make excuses for his actions by claiming that he was “sexually abused” as a child. Where have we heard this excuse before? Who believes him? ■ In connection with No Child Left Behind, according to The Washington Post, the federal government has been spending more than $1 billion a year with a a politically connected group called Reading First to tell schools how to teach reading. Arms have been twisted in some states to force them to use untested and untried methods sold by Reading First. This has been going on for five years at $1 billion a year and the secretary of education and the architect of the program have gone to work for one of its contractors. Smell something fishy? ■ On the same subject: What is so dif ficult about teaching reading that new, untried and untested methods should be forced on schools? What is wrong with the old-fashioned way of teaching reading - including phonics - that has worked for a long, long time? ■ Incidentally, hopefully Georgia or Houston County were not among those that adopted what The Washington Post describes as “unproved and untested textbooks and reading programs.” ■ Amnesty for parents who have fallen behind in child support pay ments has resulted in some money coming in. Apparently falling behind in child support payments is not unusual, since letters were sent to more than 500 parents who were more than two months behind in their payments. I fTimZZCK&T INTELLIGENCE W* r.'.VuT THEN IT 60EE ON TO *D±i- THE THIMGj COULD PO / (nHf? IT ~ V L ic? J a It is all about the predation, stupid Washington is embroiled in another sex scandal. A sure bet win for the Republicans in Florida is now imperiled. The Dems look to be one seat closer to regain ing control of the House. But the latest one involving disgraced GOP Congressman Mark Foley’s predatory emails and lecherous instant-message exchanges is more than just a political nightmare. It’s a parental nightmare. Foley’s targets were underage high school students serving as congres sional pages. I spoke with good friends of mine a few weeks ago who were positively glowing about their teenage son’s experience as a page earlier this year. It is supposed to engender pride in our country and its institutions. It is supposed to inspire young people to public service. But irresponsible, selfish and sick adults have turned the Page Program into their personal sexual romper room. For more than 150 years, these young messengers have worked in the U.S. Congress. Daniel Webster appointed the first Senate page in 1829. The first House pages began their service in 1842. Most are high school juniors at least 16 years of age. They must have stellar academic records and enlist members of Congress to sponsor them for one or two semester terms during the school year or a summer session. The pages serve principally ,as gophers. They carry documents between the House and Senate, mem bers’ offices, committees and the Library of Congress; assist in the cloakrooms and chambers; and when Congress is in session, they may be summoned by members for assistance. They live in a supervised dorm near the Capitol. They wear uniforms and OPINION understand that the Houston County Child Support Services is more diligent than some other counties. ■ The opening of the Georgia National Fair reminds mq of one of the most exciting events of my teen years. George Burt, who was executive edi tor of The Macon Telegraph, invited me to come to Macon from Americus to go to the Georgia State Fair as his guest. I was 16. I had never been to such an event before. It was one of the highlights of my youth. Can’t imagine today’s youngsters being so impressed, since they have so much so early in life. ■ The U.S. government no longer will prevent visitors to Canada from bringing prescription drugs into this country. Never should have prevented it, in the first place. ■ Complaints galore are coming in from seniors who signed up for the Medicare Part D health insurance pro gram. Many of them already have used enough prescriptions to reach the so called “doughnut” where they must pay 100 percent of the cost. Several seniors have told me they believe they made a mistake by dropping insurance policies they had so they could partici pate in the Part D program. They are being told they cannot now go back. ■ A warning has been issued con- take classes. It’s a highly competitive process to become a page, and it’s an exclusive and exciting opportunity to see Washington up close. Parents put full trust in Congress that their chil dren will be safe. You can’t possibly read Foley’s report ed communications with minors that have been disclosed so far - including his attempts to rendezvous with one and apparent meetings and scheduled drinking sessions with others and dismiss them as merely “naughty e mails.” Yet, that’s how White House press secretary Tony Snow described some of them this week. Though he admitted to being too “glib” and later “clarified” those words with tougher remarks, the damage has been done. It makes Republicans who downplay the messages and Democrats and journalists who sat on them - look recklessly flippant about sexual preda tion. Parents of all political persua sions should be outraged by both. It is also impossible to ignore the appearance of calculated grooming by Foley of potential young targets. In a June 6, 2002, farewell speech to pages, Foley effused about his teen pals even bragging about taking one male page out on a dinner date at Morton’s steakhouse after the boy made a winning bid to have a meal with him. Given my own experience in Washington as a young college intern, ®gg§ f| - wß||! Mk 4m VI Foy Evans Columnist foyevansl9@cox.net * f .jH Michelle Malkin Columnist malkin@comcast.net HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL cerning the purchase of insurance of any kind. Price is not everything. Sometimes too low a price should be a warning that something is amiss. Insurance is nothing until you need it and unless you are doing business with a reputable company that keeps customers in mind you could be in for a rude awakening. Even highly rated insurance companies sometimes go bankrupt (one with which I had a policy did) and you can be left holding the bag. ■ Something to remember: If all the subdivisions that have been approved in Houston County recently are filled with homes the increase in population would be several times the number added in any of the last few years. Home sales are still soaring, but we are beginning to see “For Sale” signs in front of many houses for a longer length of time. However, sales never have been better in the more popular new subdivisions. ■ I’m joining parents who are demanding sidewalks on Welborn Road, which students walking to and from Huntington Middle School need badly. A ride down that street will con vince you that we are putting students in danger every day they have to use that route to walk to school. ■ It’s hard to understand why the health department and hospital are still waiting for flu vaccine while it already is available to commercial businesses. It seems to me that officials in charge of distributing the vaccine would make sure health departments and hospitals were the first to receive the vaccine. This happened last year and seems to be happening again this year. when I was approached by a congress man to live alone with him for a winter term, I am sure there are many, many more such stories to be told. Some Beltway types think it’s abso lutely absurd to expect the adults in Washington to have policed Foley more aggressively based on knowledge of his more “innocent” exchanges. Come on. This was a 52-year-old man instant messaging teenagers. Hello? Would you be comfortable with your next-door neighbor doing that? And this is not the first time the Page Program’s participants have been exploited by politicians lurking in the halls of power. In 1983, Republican Dan Crane and Democrat Gerry Studds soiled the legacy of the House Page Program after both admitting to sexual rela tions with 17-year-old pages. Crane abused his position of power with a female page. Studds with a male page. Crane apologized and was voted out of office. Studds was defiant, calling his “relationship” with his teen prey “consensual.” He was re-elected. Then- Congressman Newt Gingrich called for both predators to be expelled. But the enablers and apologists for Crane and Studds settled for censure. The consequences of letting their sordid behavior slide without the most severe punishment created fertile grounds for the Capitol Hill predation scandal we are witnessing today. I do not blame the media or the prey for the sins of the predators. I blame the predators and all of those, on both sides of the aisle, who looked the other way. Michelle Malkin is author of the new book “Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild. ” Her e-mail address ismalkin@comcast. net.