Tennessee School Board Protects Kids & Kicks Out Behavioral Health Provider
Republished with permission from AbleChild.
Every now and then adult people do the right thing for the right reason. One such occasion occurred last month in Hamilton County Tennessee when a very courageous school board took a stand for its kids and kicked a mental health provider out of its schools.
It didn’t take long, though, for the big pharma and behavioral health industry to rally its troops and get the word out that this kind of bad behavior will not be tolerated. No. There’s just too much money involved for this cheeky School Board to take such a radical stand. How dare parents and a school system say “no” to more mental health!
Make no mistake, there was great wailing and gnashing of the teeth at the thought of curtailing a mental health provider’s service contract. The company in question that got the boot is Centerstone and it is a behemoth as mental health providers go, bragging revenues of nearly $378 million annually. Yes, Centerstone crows about having just shy of 4,000 employees and is in nearly 1000 schools throughout the country and increasing yearly.
It’s fair to say that Centerstone has cornered the market on mental health services in Tennessee and claims to receive nearly $142 million dollars annually from federal Medicaid dollars. This is where the argument presented by those angered by the Board’s decisive action falls apart.
Those who favor the continued participation of Centerstone claim that the services are “free.” But we all are familiar with the old saying… “nothing’s free” and it is just as true in this case, too, as the $142 million in revenue to Centerstone from Medicaid is paid by the taxpayers. But there’s a bigger issue that has raised the antenna of the Board Members and it’s all about parental rights.
Parents get funny when they’re cut out of the equation, especially when dealing with the health of their children. It’s fair to say that parents get cranky when organizations like Centerstone promote ideological content that isn’t necessarily directly associated with alleged basic mental health services and seeps into other more personal and polarizing issues like identity, sexuality or gender.
Parents like to think these are issues that are discussed at home and not introduced and guided by outside mental health providers, only later to learn parents are the last to know. The parents of Hamilton County believe the purpose of schools is for academic achievement, not pursuing social issues or sexual interests. Surely, a radical thought!
Of course, one of the more serious sticking points for Hamilton County parents is the fact that Centerstone’s agreement states that it only contacts parents “as is necessary.” Oh, hell no. Parents aren’t the last to know when their child is receiving counseling or mental health services, parents must be the first to know, every time.
Besides, just because Centerstone’s decade long contract has been effectively eliminated doesn’t mean Hamilton County’s students are without mental health services. In fact, the School Board made it clear that $22 million is budgeted for the hire of 250 student support coaches, counselors, and social workers and another million dollars in federal grants is provided through Title IV and Title 1. That’s a lot of money for mental health in schools.
It is interesting to note that no one on the Board has requested of Centerstone the number of referrals that have been made for children to receive psychiatric medications. How many kids in Hamilton County are taking prescription mind-altering drugs as “treatment” for an alleged mental illness?
AbleChild would argue that Hamilton County is no different than what is occurring nationally where there are increased diagnosing, drugging and suicides. AbleChild would want to know by what measure is Centerstone rated? How does Hamiliton County know whether Centerstone is helpful or hurtful? Are there substantial increases yearly in children needing mental health services? Again, if yes, this also matches what is occurring nationally…no one is getting better, just more diagnosed and drugged.
Of course, this failed mental health model will keep behavioral health providers in business in perpetuity. The kids are sick and need mental health services is the mantra. But where are the results of Centerstone’s decade-long services? How many kids are “better” because of Centerstone’s, or other behavioral health providers, interventions?
Ironically, the issue of whether Centerstone’s contract would be renewed by Hamilton County Schools was tabled in a 7-4 vote in last week’s meeting of the School Board. But knowing all too well the power behind behavioral health providers, AbleChild feels sure that Centerstone won’t go quietly into the night. Frankly, if Hamilton County gets away with booting Centerstone, it would set a standard, a precedent, that can’t be tolerated, hence it cause a domino effect.
Afterall if parents in one county, one school board, get away with asserting its control over its children’s mental health, what’s to stop other parents throughout the country from following that extremely bold lead? This is why Centerstone will throw everything its got, including political power, to quash this remarkable rebellion.
When the Hamilton County School Board meets again in October, Centerstone will be waiting, prepared to use all means available, no cost too much, to worm its way back into Hamilton County Schools. The parents of Hamilton County and School Board need to stand firm against the Centerstone Goliath, providing the rest of the country with an excellent education in civil activism.
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