Fisher says mental health overtime stories have piqued legislators' interest

State Rep. Barney Fisher says that news of big overtime costs at state habilitation centers has gotten the attention of legislators and mental health officials, but groups that want to privatize mental health services may be making an effort to fan the flames of controversy.

From the 96th Missouri General Assembly in Jefferson City, the Horton Republican blamed the Missouri Council on Developmental Disabilities, Missouri Protection & Advocacy Services, Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services and chapters of Arc of the United States.

Fisher said those private organizations have joined the U.S. Department of Justice in a bid to close all habilitation centers like the one in Nevada.

Referring to the director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, the representative said, "I'm sure Dr. Keith Schafer is up to his eyeballs in this.

"I don't know if the overtime was legitimate, but I don't think the facts have been fully developed. These groups want to see all the habilitation centers closed and this is a way to give them a black eye."

In a story relating to a recent audit of the state's Department of Mental Health by the Missouri State Auditor's Office, the Associated Press reported last Thursday that Schafer's agency had paid $48 million in overtime in three years to staffers at Marshall Habilitation Center, Fulton State Hospital, Bellfontaine Habilitation Center and St. Louis Developmental Disabilities Treatment Center.

The report said an employee in Marshall took home $99,000 in overtime pay in two years, doubling the person's $45,000 salary.

"It's a different culture in St. Louis," Fisher said in a telephone interview last Friday. "The Nevada Hab Center is well-run with the way they track expenses and the budget, but the mental health facilities in St. Louis have a lot of problems with employee turnover and quality of care.

"If you look at the public schools and other things in St. Louis, it's a cesspool."

In a mid-December report, Nevada Hab Center Superintendent Chris Baker said 52 residents remained at the Vernon Center dormitory in his administrative complex since 28 had been moved three and four at a time into houses here and 15 transferred to hab centers at Sikeston, Higginsville, Marshall and Poplar Bluff.

The 60-bed Benton Center here was closed four months ago.

Fisher said Friday that the die was cast when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg held in the 1999 Olmstead Decision that people with disabilities have a right to live in the community.

Noting the state must maintain staffing at three employees per resident, he said, "I'm suspicious that this is a justification to close more state facilities.

"All over Missouri, they're under tremendous scrutiny and pressure from outside interest groups wanting to close them because these groups will benefit by taking on more clients. That's not just here but nationwide.

"The goal is ultimately the privatization of mental health care."