UPDATE: State still scheduled to close Warm Springs Outdoor Therapeutic Program, but private entities have month to propose takeover plan | Local News | Columbus Ledger Enquirer

They didn’t hear the magic words that would save the dying program, but state legislators representing the area and the program’s original director convinced state officials this week to allow time for a private entity to propose the same or similar service for Georgia’s troubled teens.

Frank Berry, commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, agreed to delay the formal action that would close the Warm Springs Outdoor Therapeutic Program, state Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, said Wednesday.

“It will not come up at (Monday’s) meeting,” Buckner said.

Money for OTP, the only state-funded residential program for wayward youth, still will be cut at the end of the month — and the program’s 18 children still will be sent elsewhere — but the paperwork reprieve still is significant.

“It will not be a quick and easy process to get approval,” Buckner said, “but it’s worth it because it’s for the kids.”

DBHDD’s board meets every other month — it’s next scheduled meeting after Monday is Oct. 21 — so a private entity should have two months to develop a proposal.

OTP has helped hundreds of teens get back on track in its 30-year history. Its 600 acres were carved out of F.D. Roosevelt State Park off Ga. Highway 190 in Meriwether County, about 40 miles north of Columbus. If the property isn’t used for a purpose at least similar to OTP, then ownership would revert to the Department of Natural Resources. And that would make it harder to revive the program, said state Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus.

via UPDATE: State still scheduled to close Warm Springs Outdoor Therapeutic Program, but private entities have month to propose takeover plan | Local News | Columbus Ledger Enquirer.