![]() It was often a resource for judges sentencing children with mental health issues in Juvenile Court and an alternative to incarceration in the Augusta Youth Development Campus, said Juvenile Court Judge Jennifer McKinzie.ĭuring the Nov. That support decreased to $569,000 in 2007 and was eliminated in 2008.Ĭhildren in families who were underinsured or uninsured used Serenity's services of family and individual counseling and inpatient care. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities provided Serenity with $1.2 million of funding in 2006. "We waited as long as we could, and it started to hurt us so bad financially we said, 'OK, let's focus on what we're getting paid for, which is the adult population,' " Williamson said. In the past, the facility would have seen one child for every adult client, but it will now be reduced to one child for every six adults, Williamson said.Ĭhild and Adolescent Services lost its funding from the state in 2008 but continued functioning for two years until October, when the burden became too heavy, Williamson said. Serenity will continue treating children with severe mental illness but will no longer be available to most of the public. "We are doing our very best to hook up (patients) with another provider, but the challenge is the appointments are so far in the future it's very difficult to make those linkages," Serenity CEO Charles Williamson said. ![]() With few licensed psychiatrists and fewer mental health professionals who accept Medicaid, those who depended on its services are feeling the cut. ![]() Officials at Child and Adolescent Services at Serenity Behavioral Health Systems are referring hundreds of patients to private mental health professionals. ![]() The juvenile program in Augusta's community mental health facility that provided low- and no-cost mental health services to more than 900 children is being downsized to treat only the most severe cases. ![]()
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