Rising prison population
threatens state budget
SAI.KM (AIM The state s
prison population is mcreas
mg (aster than expe< ted and
threaten* lo carve a $140 mil
lion hole in the 1 <195*97 bud
gel. Gov John Kitzhaber wild
Monday
The governor told legisia
live loaders they might have
to take money (nan oilier parts
of his proposed budget to d«wil
with the crowded prisons
The state prison popula
tion has risen from 8.660 in
September to 7,058 this
month. Kitzhaher said.
The slate Criminal Juste e
Council, whii h prepares fon>
casts of prison needs, esti
mates that inmate total will
increase by 4,510 by the end
of the next budget period in
June 1007.
Some Kepuhliiitn legislative
leaders questioned the Dtmto
i rath governor's figures, and
kit/Jialmr emphasized that the
estimate was based on a trend
of just a few months
"I felt it im|Hirtnnt to inform
the legislative leadership and
he prepared for a potential
budget realignment," he said
at a news conference
He said a more detailed
prison forei act would Ih*
issued in April
kitzhalier had no spe< ifir
ideas about where to gel the
money to pay for the extra
prison space He said social
serve es budgets are tight and
"the only other plat u with that
kind of money is education."
Raising taxes to deal with
the problem "is last on every
body's list," he said
live governor said the nxent
inmate increase appears to
have I teen fanned by parole
and probation revocations,
rather than hy a measure
passed by voters last Novem
ber
ballot Measure 11, setting
new minimum sentences for
.1 variety of felonies, is exje* t
wd to swell prison populations
hut doesn't take affix t until
April 1
Tlie governor said he thinks
the system is "toughening up"
as judges, pnrux utors and oth
ers anticipate the new law
Kitrhaber'a proposed bud
get includes S’t.t million for
adult and juvenile prisons
l’lans include building four
100-bed regional juvenile
facilities and adding to one.
building a 200-bed adult
prison and adding 200 lexis at
another
Another part of the gover
nor's plan is to finance coun
ty jail expansion in esc hange
for the local governments
housing prisoners with sen
tences of a year or less
House Speaker Bov Clamo,
R Bend, said the Legislature
will provide the money if the
projections hold up. but not
from new taxes
"M\ preference Is that the
funds ( otne from lottery dol
lars, i uts in other government
programs or in< reoxed effi
cient les." Clamo said
She mentioned scaling
down the state Economic
Development Department.
eliminating the stole motor
pool and using $S() million
that Kitzhaher put in the bud
get for selix live pay im nets
os
State takes 6 kids from family
PORTLAND CAP) — Capt
Gordon Whitohead, Iht socond
iiH ommand for Marini* recruit
ing in Oregon, returned home
from a two-week meeting in
Washington to find that his ms
children had just been taken
away by the state
The children, ages 2 4, 6. 8,
to and 11. were taken from their
mother at a school where she
had tw***u attending a Valentine's
party Friday The younger ones
were s< reaming as they were
[lulled awav
Diane Whitehead was cited
for harassment for resisting as an
offiier tried to take her 2-year
old son from h«r arms
The court document justifying
the action said she had spanked
her t Tyear-old son with a fielt
the previous night ami that her
hoUM was filthy
"They took our children with
out any noth e, without doing a
full investigation." Gordon
Whitehead said Monday 'They
just swept them out away from
us."
Karen Lee. spokeswoman for
the Oregon Children’s Services
Division, said there is more to
the case than is apparent and
that the seizure of the children,
ordered by a Washington Coun
ty judge, was justified
The Whiteheads, who have
never been investigated by the
OSD before, strongly disagree
"1 don't like to spank,” Diane
Whitehead said "This was the
last resort, and I do not abuse
my children."
Lee said the matter would
have been resolved the next day
had the children not been taken
on the Friday l«*fore a three-day
weekend
A i oupi, who live near tile
family s home in suburban Alo
ha colled the sheriff’s office
when they heard the bos
lemming Thursday night.
Diane Whitehead said her son
had been ai ting up throughout
the day and had refused to help
clean the house in preparation
for hts father * return
"Finally. 1 vud. 'Christopher,
what's it going to take for you to
get your work done?'" Diane
Whitehead said “I could |ust
sue in hi* eyes that he was test
ing me Me said. 'CJo ahead and
spank me.' and he started flick
mg some of the kids with a wet
rag he had ”
She said she spanked him
with her hand, and he made a
smart-alls.k remark about how it
didn't hurt Then she got the
fielt. and had to sit on him to try
to cjiltii him down
She admitted the boy was
yelling loudly
I had his anti around behind
him Me was veiling, ’You're
breaking my arm You're killing
me." Diane Whitehead said
She said it took some time to
hit him with the belt on his bot*
tom because he kept covering it
with his h-gs
The incident was over by the
time two sheriff’s deputies
arrived Diane Whitehead said
one of the officers, who was
extremely rude, interviewed the
boy alone
The officer noticed a red mark
on the boy's lower back and
Diane Whitehead said she must
have missed with the lielt
because she was trying to hit
only his bottom The red mark
was cited in the document sup
porting having the children tak
en away.
She said the two of fit ers told
her there was no evidence of
abuse and that the matter would
end there
The next day. a CSD worker
and sheriffs deputy came to the
school, not knowing that Diane
Whitehead wu there for her 10
year-old son s party
Ufa no Whitehead said the offi
< (>r (old her ho was picking up
her children and she said. "No
you're not ’’
Eventually, Diane Whitehead
was handcuffed and placed in a
patrol car while her children
were removed from the school
"It took two officers to hand
cuff rno," she said. "I'm not that
big but 1 wasn't going to let them
take my kids away."
It was the kind of scene the
CSD tries to avoid. Le* said
"We would agree that that
was not the w ay we want to pick
up the kids." she said. "You
don't want to create a scene."
As Diane Whitehead was
being led to the patrol car. she
spotted a friend from the fami
ly's Mormon church, and he
telephoned the church bishop,
who picked up Cordon White
head at the airport
Lee said the action by her
agency was justified and that the
facts will t ome out at a hearing
Tuesday afternoon in Hillsboro.
The Whiteheads have hired a
lawyer and plan to have many
neighbors and friends there to
stand behind thorn.
Diane Whitehead said she has
had numerous disputes with
CSD officials while acting on
behalf of her brother, whose
children were taken away by the
agency. She and her husband
wonder if the agency’s action
was in any way a retaliation.
"CSD knows me," she said.
“They know my name. They
hang up when I call.”
But Lee said the agency
doesn’t retaliate.
"My guess is the branch
doesn't even know about any
connection.” she said. "It clear
ly had nothing to do with this
incident whatsoever."
Governor proposes to cut $80 million from health plan
SAIJ.M(AI’) Gov John kitKhalier has
proposed trimming $ho million from the
Oregon health plan, which provided mwl
it id rare to Ihoutunuk of poor Oregonians
for the first lime
Despite the proposed i uts. Republic.!n
legislators say they still art! worried the
program t In* Dotnot rat it: governor helped
craft is too expensive and might have to
lie m a let! bail even more
In particular, GOP lawmakers say tlu*v
may fight plans to begin making health
plan partii i|Kints eligible for mental health
serve es
"I don't cast aspersions on the value of
mental health, but only on our ability to
afford what wo already have in the plan,
let alone more." said Senate President Gor
don Smith,
Kitzhalxtr and sih ial vers it es advocates
say they will strongly oppose any moves
to dump mental health services.
" They are assuming that if you don't
treat these people (he costs somehow will
go away." the governor said.
"Hot these people show up os homeless
individuals, they show up in hospital
emergency rooms and they show up in our
corn* 1 tonal system " he said "We still pay
the costs, only it 's a much larger cost long
term "
Oregon gained national recognition a
year ago In rationing its health services to
extend medical care to 100,000 of the
state's poorest »itinns A 10-t enta-pack
< (garotte tax increase also helped pay for
the expansion.
Kitzhaber, who wrote the health plan
when he was Senate president, has pro
posed cutting it bj« k. in certain areas to
help balance the state's 1985-9? budget
For instant e. the governor is propos
ing to redui«the number of covered med
ical services, including thrush in infants,
pelvic pain syndrome and some digestive
and stomach disorders
The governor also proposes to tighten
eligibility requirements and require health
plan members to pay a $r> j*tr visit to dm
tors and dentists
However. Kbtzhnhor wants more than 40
mental health conditions to also qualify
for coverage The services now are being
offered to about one-quarter of the health
plan participants, with statewide cover
age scheduled to take effei t in Septem
ber IfHKi
The $20 million pm e tog of including
mental health services in the health plan
is well worth the i ost, he says
"In the old days, people who had men
tal health problems would go into treat
ment and never get out of treatment."
kitzhaber said
"Today, there are enormously effei live
and cost-effei live treatments," he said
"There an* a lot of people who e®n lie com
pletely functional with some pharmaceu
th als and some minor treatments."
Thu statu Mental Health Division inis
estimated that 30,000 people may not
nx eive treatment if the Legislature refus
es to pay for mental health services
Smith and other Republicans say they
are sympathetic but it puts too much finan
c tal burden on Oregon taxpayer*
“On the national level, we see what's
going on with Medicare and Social Secu
rity." said House Majority Leader Ray
Baum of Li Grande "We don’t want to put
Oregon in the position of trying to fund
uni ontrolled entitlements
A loading six tal services advocate says
refusal to fund mental health services
would !x> shortsighted
"We can’t afford not to do it." said Elion
Lowe, co-chairwoman of the Human Ser
vices Coalition of Oregon "Early inter
vention and treatment of mental health
problems hel|>s many people lead very pro
ductive lives.
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