A new report by the Department of Mental Health, or DMH, found the department would have to cut 87 million dollars annually. Federal matching funds would also be lost, which brings that number to approximately $164 million per year.
Speaking at the Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment at Southeast Missouri State University, Nixon said that would permanently undermine the state’s ability to fund mental health services.
“Under this bill, DMH would have to cut funding for its diagnostic center by 25 percent, or about a million dollars,” Nixon said. “For this center right here, that’s about $124,000 annually. Reduced funding for diagnosis means families waiting longer for answers, and children waiting longer for treatment.”
If the legislature overrides his veto, Nixon says his administration would be forced to close the Cottonwood Children’s Residential Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau and the Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in St. Louis.