CSEA is fighting the Onondaga County Administration's fast-track effort to get rid of our successful School Based Support Program, which puts needed mental health counselors in nine area schools and is currently operated by our County Mental Health Department.

The program's 11 Student Assistance Counselors have the important role of providing substance abuse prevention services, in addition to individual/group counseling on a range of mental health concerns, including suicide prevention, anger management, anxiety, abuse, and depression, both to our school children and their families. They also play an important role in the classroom, working with our teachers to provide programs on substance abuse and other mental health issues.

We only need to think about the devastating losses to any of the communities where outbreaks of school violence have occurred to remind us of the need for these types of services, and the urgent concern that NO STUDENT "falls through the cracks" or fails to get the help or treatment they need.

What we can't understand is why such a successful County-run program would be turned over to a private operator, which might lead to changes in available services and a loss of direct county control and accountability. We understand that it's not about the money, because the County only pays about 5 percent of the program's cost right now, and has apparently promised to maintain that level of funding by giving that money to the private operator.

We have many unanswered questions surrounding this issue: Exactly what is the County's rationale for doing anything that could conceivably jeopardize the available services to students who may rely on these counselors? Why is this on such a fast track, and why has there been no public discussion or debate over this issue? Why has there been no talk of layoffs, and are dedicated county workers being given pink slips? Why would our tax dollars go to pay for a private company's operations?