Luechtefeld: ‘We will not get the real truth'

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After more than a month of uncertainty about their communities' future, the residents of Chester and Murphysboro came out in full force to show their support for the Chester Mental Health Center and Illinois Youth Center at Murphysboro on October 12, according to State Sen. Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville).

"Obviously the officials with Governor Quinn's office, the Departments of Juvenile Justice and Human Services are going to say what the Governor wants them to say. These high-ranking officials work for the Governor and get paid to advance his agenda," Luechtefeld said. "We will not get the real truth as to whether or not Chester and the Murphysboro facilities should be closed."

Luechtefeld testified before the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on October 12, as part of the ongoing process in dealing with the proposed closures of the state-owned facilities in Chester and Murphysboro. The two southern Illinois locations are part of a plan that would close seven facilities statewide and laying off of more than 1,900 employees.

"Chester Mental Health Center is a one-of-a-kind facility in Illinois that houses the most dangerous patients in the state, who are typically institutionalized by the court system for serious issues or criminal acts of insanity," Luechtefeld said. "I asked the Governor's staff, 'Why Murphysboro, Why Chester?' I am not sure they provided a really good answer."

In Murphysboro, for the first of the two hearings, legislators questioned the methodology that was being used by the Governor's office to close facilities. The Illinois Youth Center at Murphysboro was constructed in 1997 and the Chester Mental Health Center was completed in the 1970s, making it one of the newer mental health hospitals.

In Murphysboro, the facility, it was originally designed as a boot camp for troubled youth and it is largely recognized that the facility functioned better when it was under the Department of Corrections. The mental health hospital is the only facility equipped with the physical structures and staff properly trained to deal with individuals who have the most severe mental health issues.

"Residents and workers of Chester and Murphysboro should feel good about the presentation, testimony and experiences they shared with the Commission," Luechtefeld concluded. "We can only hope for the best recommendation from the commission."