COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – South Carolina leaders are acknowledging the state is falling short when it comes to treating some children and teens with the most severe mental health needs.
Many of them end up in the juvenile justice system, which is ill-equipped to provide a high level of care.
But on Monday, South Carolina reached a major milestone in changing that situation as Governor Henry McMaster, along with agency and legislative leaders, broke ground on the state’s new inpatient psychiatric treatment facility (PRTF) for Columbia adolescents.
“This moment is long overdue,” said Republican Sen. Katrina Seely of Lexington, a longtime children’s rights advocate.
The state Legislature has allocated about $23 million for the future William R. Byers Jr. Treatment Center, named in honor of the former Family Court judge and head of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
The Department of Mental Health said the 24-bed center will primarily treat youth in the state’s juvenile justice system who are required by law to be under the custody of the Department of Mental Health.
“The William Byers Treatment Center is designed to improve outcomes for young people by putting them on a path of recovery that promotes healthy, productive and law-abiding futures,” State Children’s Advocate Amanda Whittle said.
As she urged lawmakers to help fund the new center, the DJJ executive director said the need was dire.
Without a state facility, until this new facility opens, youth in the juvenile justice system with serious mental health issues will be treated in private facilities within the state, or even removed from their families and transferred out of state if private facilities don’t have the space or refuse to treat them.
“These young people really need something different,” DJJ Executive Director Eden Hendrick said Monday. “They can’t survive in a normal environment without specialized care. The Department of Juvenile Justice is not set up to provide specialized care. We’re doing our best, but these young people need more than that.”
State leaders said more work needs to be done to ensure these investments serve South Carolinians as effectively as possible.
The governor on Monday specifically asked lawmakers to introduce legislation to the governor when he returns to Columbia next year that aims to repair one of the most fragmented health care delivery systems in the country by merging multiple state health agencies into one.
Despite broad bipartisan support, the bill fell just short of reaching McMaster before the end of the 2024 legislative session.
“When we’re not communicating with each other, when we’re not working together, when we’re not organized, and when the structures actually make it difficult to do that, we’re wasting time, we’re wasting money and unfortunately we’re wasting the future of these people,” McMaster told reporters on Monday.
The planned opening date for the new Youth PRTF is November of next year.
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