Marin Joins Lawsuit on Student Mental Health Funding (CA)

November 12, 2010

Marin has joined 22 other California counties in a lawsuit against the state to clear up who is responsible for paying for mental health services for special education students, including 485 who receive help in Marin County.

The counties now provide services to the students and get some reimbursement from the state, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed all funding for the program in the state budget, and declared a mandate imposed by AB 3632 in 1984 requiring counties to provide such services "suspended." California’s constitution, due to Proposition 1A in 2004, specifies that when there is no funding for a mandate,the mandate will be suspended.

Marin and other counties seek a judicial decision on the issue of whether they "are no longer required to provide these services as a result of the elimination of funding by the governor,"said Paul McIntosh, head of the California State Association of Counties.

Under federal law, schools are required to provide services to special education students, including mental health services, and the state never has fully paid counties for providing the services, with the debt now totaling more than $400 million.

"With the total elimination of funding and the mandate suspended, counties must transition special education mental health services back to the schools," said Mike McGowan, an association vice president and Yolo County supervisor.

Marin receives about $3 million annually from the state to provide mental health services to 485 special education students in the county, according to County Administrator Matthew Hymel. He noted the governor vetoed $132 million statewide for the service last month and suspended the legislative mandate for counties.

"Like all other counties providing these services, we await a ruling from the courts regarding the legality of the governor’s veto and whether he has the authority to suspend a mandate that was funded by the Legislature," he said.

"The county health and human services department has been in discussions with the Marin office of education regarding the potential transition of this mandate to school districts statewide, as schools are mandated by federal law to ensure that these special education students receive an education," Hymel said. "Given the number of local clients potentially impacted, the county and the office of education have a joint interest in ensuring the smoothest transition of services possible … in the event the courts uphold the governor’s actions."

Marin County schools chief Mary Jane Burke said critical services for students with special needs range from weekly counseling sessions to placement in residential facilities or therapeutic educational classes.

"We will be doing everything we can to ensure the funding is maintained," Burke said, adding that the county’s Department of Health and Human Services has provided the schools without standing mental health service for years. "I’m not worried they’re going to pull the plug," she said.

Burke said the situation is the result of "short-sighted leadership from the state" that prevents the"most vulnerable in our community" from leading productive lives.

County supervisors agreed to join the lawsuit after discussing it behind closed doors.