Special-needs
question halts senators
weighing funding

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Senate Ways and Means Committee leaders are waiting for an answer to their biggest question about court-ordered mental health and education services for special-needs children.

What is it costing the state?

Health, education and budget officials and representatives of the governor and state attorney general couldn't give the committee any figures yesterday.

"You have placed the Legislature in a very difficult position," said Co-Chair Carol Fukunaga. "We don't know the true costs and expenditures."

The Health Department for the third year is asking for emergency funding for the programs, she said.

The 1994 consent decree requires the state to have a system working by June 2000 to provide special education and mental health services to disabled children.

The agreement resulted from a lawsuit alleging that the state failed to comply with federal laws mandating such services.

Russell Suzuki, in charge of the education unit in the attorney general's office, acknowledged legislative concerns about costs at a briefing Friday for five House committees.

But that isn't an issue with the court, he said, warning that if the state doesn't meet its obligations by the deadline, Federal Judge David Ezra "will not hesitate to take matters into his own control."

He could impose fines or take state assets if the Legislature doesn't adequately fund required services, Suzuki said.

Senators said they want to make sure the money is spent appropriately and efficiently.

Someone must be responsible for providing accurate costs, Fukunaga said.

Linda Colburn, Felix Project operations manager in the governor's office, said she's taking that responsibility.

She said she's working with the budget department to integrate Felix expenses into the budgets of the health and education departments.

"It's not merely an accounting question," said State Auditor Marion Higa. "It goes to legislative responsibility."

Faced with limited resources, legislators may be able to plan the next budget better if they know how the money was spent in the past, she said.

Higa was asked by last year's Legislature to look into costs of implementing the Felix decree.

But she said she couldn't get the answers because of different reporting methods and unreliable figures.

The consent decree requires the state to maintain levels of service and spending that existed on May 2, 1994 -- known as "maintenance of effort."

Higa pointed to a puzzling item in a list of Felix-related maintenance of effort expenditures last year: 100 percent for the Department of Education's afterschool A+ program.

That "stands out as a red flag," said Sen. Andy Levin, Ways and Means co-chair.

"I can't help but wonder about it myself," said Paul LeMahieu, the new schools superintendent.

Part of the problem in figuring costs has been a big jump in the number of children identified for services, the officials said.

"It is a moving target," said state Health Director Bruce Anderson.

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division had 1,549 clients in June 1995, acting chief Christina Donkervoet said at the briefing Friday.

The number had climbed to 8,289 last month, she said.

Of those, 6,702 were identified as children from birth to age 20 qualified for Felix decree services, she said.

However, she said, the numbers are starting to level off, and focus is shifting to quality of services.

LeMahieu said the DOE in 1993 was providing special education to about 4 percent of the school population and now it's about 11 percent, which is about the national average.

Although the numbers may stabilize, he said the department is still building the resources and gearing up to meet the needs.

"There is a tremendous lack of knowledge about what it means to properly and adequately serve these children," he said, stressing the importance of training school personnel.

"It's more than just a legal matter" that may end next year, Le Mahieu said, emphasizing it is "a system of care for children ... that will never go away."

Anderson said his agency is committed to providing appropriate, cost-effective services and is working closely with the other agencies.

Turf and bureaucratic problems that hampered planning for the Felix system in past years appear to have been smoothed out, officials said.

Anderson said he's seen a change in the past month in the operational team. "It's upbeat, with no sense of 'us' and 'them.' It's all of us together. These are our kids. We need to be sure we are providing for their future."