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Corbett calls for more mental health services during visit to State Training School in Eldora
James Q. Lynch
Oct. 18, 2017 8:50 pm
ELDORA - In the wake of a report critical of measures used to restrain unruly boys at the Eldora State Training School, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ron Corbett is calling for more resources for the facility, especially to meet the needs of the juvenile offenders living there.
Corbett, a former speaker of the Iowa House who had obtained funding for new facilities at the campus in north central Iowa, said he was impressed by the changes he saw during a visit Wednesday.
'I wanted to see if the programming had changed over the past 20 years and whether there was still a need for a facility like this,” said Corbett, the Cedar Rapids mayor seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2018. 'I'm impressed that the programming has changed and advanced to meet some of the challenges the kids are facing today.”
Despite rumors that the school that serves as many as 130 boys from age 12 to past 19 may be closed, Corbett said there's a 'great need” to keep it open.
'After seeing what I've seen today and reinforcing what I've known in the past, this is not a facility that as governor I would ever advocate closing,” Corbett said after the tour and a discussion with students in the school's honor corps.
That's one point of agreement between Corbett and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Reynolds' spokeswoman, Brenna Smith, called speculation about the closing of the Eldora facility 'false rumors.”
'Gov. Reynolds is proud of the great work done each and every day at Eldora and is committed to keeping it open,” Smith said.
A report by Disability Rights Iowa criticized the school for overuse of the seclusion room and 'the wrap,” a bed that involves straps placed over the arms and legs of unruly students. The group did not call for closure of the school, but said youths with mental health needs should not be housed there.
Superintendent Mark Day said many of the 94 students at the school Wednesday have mental health issues, including 40 percent who have 'suicidal histories” involving themselves or family members. There have been no suicides at the school in more than 40 years, he said.
The school has one full-time psychologist and counseling available for 24 hours a week, Day said, adding that 65 percent of the students are on prescription psychotropic medications.
'At some point, a decision will have to be made about the depth and breadth of the need for services,” Day said.
Corbett called it 'apparent (the school) needs some additional support for programming,” including for dealing with mental health issues.
'The greatest need is for expertise in the mental health issues,” he said. 'That's probably not exclusive to this facility. It's an issue many Iowans have been talking about and it's getting to an acute level.”
Mental health needs could be addressed either with the development of an on-campus eight- to 12-bed unit to deal with severe cases or by contracting with another facility to provide those services, he said.
Corbett said it was good to see progress being made at the Eldora school where his name is on one of the buildings. Corbett-Miller Hall - named for him and Attorney General Tom Miller - also is known as 'the hole” because it houses the seclusion rooms that Disability Rights Iowa criticized.
'Did you think I was some old, dead dude?” Corbett asked a student who expressed surprise to meet him.
'Yeah,” the student said. 'That's wild. I was just reading about you an hour ago.”
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