By Debra Jasper
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - Three state senators on Monday pushed for reforms in Ohio's mental health system, saying they must move quickly to stop the abuse and neglect of children and make sure tax money isn't wasted.

SPECIAL REPORT

• Troubled minds, chaotic care

The lawmakers proposed changes after a two-day Cincinnati Enquirer series revealed that Ohio parents have given up custody of as many as 1,800 children in the past three years so the government would pay to treat the children's mental illnesses.

Instead of getting the help they are promised, some children are sent to psychiatric centers where they are abused, molested, improperly drugged and forced to live in wretched conditions, records show. Some suffered broken bones. Others lived in homes so dirty they urinated on the floor by their beds. Taxpayers shell out $160 to $1,000 a day per child for such care.

"It's hard to read the stories without a profound sense of despair and frustration," said state Sen. Jeff Jacobson, R-Vandalia. "It's clear a lot of work needs to be done, and quickly."

To help fix problems, Jacobson and other lawmakers say they will speed up a bill that would force counties to pay for treatment of mentally ill children without putting them in government custody. At least 38 of Ohio's 88 counties acknowledge taking custody from parents, who give up their right to say where their kids are sent, how long they stay or even what kind of medication they are given.

State Sen. John Carey, R-Wellston, said he decided to sponsor the bill after a middle-class family ran out of insurance and had to give up custody of their 8-year-old son to get help.

"I'd come home at night and the mother would be crying on my answering machine," he said. "That could have been my kid or your kid or any of our kids."

Sen. Bill Harris, R-Ashland, who chairs the Finance Committee, which will hear Carey's bill, says the committee will meet today and discuss the measure. "The Enquirer has gotten our attention and we will move forward to address this issue," he said.

Lawmakers said they planned to create a Parents Bill of Rights to make sure parents can discuss their child's treatment - even if they have to give up custody to get help. "Parents should always have the right to know what's happening to their children," Jacobson said.

Jacobson also wants state officials to track reports of abuse and neglect and to help parents identify troubled centers.

"We need to track what's happening inside these facilities and that information needs to be public," he said.

Lawmakers, along with Gov. Bob Taft, said the state must do more to make sure tax money isn't being stolen or wasted. Legislators plan to ask state Auditor Betty Montgomery to audit private treatment centers.

The Enquirer revealed that the treatment centers might bill as many as five agencies in a single county for one child's care. State officials acknowledged the confusion makes it impossible for them to track expenses.

Jacobson proposed making one agency in each county responsible for tracking payments for a child's care. He made a similar request for audits in 1999, asking then-Auditor Jim Petro to audit private foster care companies that cared for troubled children.

"We need the state auditor to determine whether the billing practices of these centers are clean, or whether we are overpaying," Jacobson said. "We spend a lot of money on them. Are we getting what we pay for?"

Joe Case, spokesman for Montgomery, said she is concerned about the potential for double-billing in the system and is eager to develop a plan of action.

Michael Hogan, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, on Monday welcomed additional oversight. He said families should know more about what happens to their mentally ill children.

"A higher level of accountability for families, that would be wonderful," he said.

Advocates praised the proposed changes.

"Every proposal is positive," said Terry Russell, director of the Ohio National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. "It's unbelievable that parents have to give up custody of their children to get terrible care."

Still, Russell and other advocates said they were disappointed that the state senators said the time isn't right to vote for a bill to make insurance companies fully cover mental illness instead of limiting coverage to 20 or 30 days. The bill has already passed the House.

Families who run out of insurance end up losing everything, Russell said. "I get 250 calls a week from mothers and fathers who are crying and upset because they can't get care for their kids."

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E-mail djasper@enquirer.com