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The David Lawrence Center in Collier County is closing its 20-bed residential treatment program for children with serious mental health problems to expand its outpatient programs for local children.

The reason cited is that the residential Bridges program was regional with state agencies determining which children from Southwest Florida were placed in the beds. As a result, few Collier children were being served, said David Schimmel, executive director of David Lawrence.

“We don’t control the admissions. This is a program that has multiple players,” he said. “They tell us who comes in the program. Most of the kids are from Lee County and from Charlotte County. We want to serve more Collier County kids in outpatient services.”

Out of 34 children admitted last year, four were from Collier, he said.

The residential beds will be closed in the beginning of June.

The goal by expanding outpatient services is to at least double patient capacity, which stands now at about 1,000 children annually, he said.

“We will only be serving Collier County kids with the outpatient program,” he said, adding that the demand is huge. “It’s a positive redirection of services to serve more kids.”

The private mental health organization on Golden Gate Parkway called the state Department of Children and Families on Wednesday about not renewing its contract for the residential program, said Mike Sedgwick, program director of substance abuse and mental health with DCF.

“They basically said they wanted to focus specifically on serving Collier County children right now,” Sedgwick said.

Two of the beds are funded by DCF and the state Medicaid program funds the other 18 beds, he said.

The next step is determining where to place the children who still need residential treatment; the nearest similar programs are in Tampa and Bradenton. At present, Bridges has 18 youngsters, Sedgwick said.

“Some of those children were earmarked to be discharged,” he said. “Probably the majority of the children have to be placed a little further away.”

There are 14 other children’s mental health residential centers around the state similar to the one at David Lawrence.

Schimmel denied financial issues was a factor in the decision, saying the residential program was “essentially a revenue neutral program.” The contract with the state was for about $2 million a year.

Moving forward, families of the children in outpatient treatment who are not on Medicaid or other insurance will pay on a sliding scale fee based on income.

Other mental health organizations and children’s advocacy groups expressed concerns about David Lawrence’s decision.

“It’s a disappointment because that means we will have to move our children further away from the community where they live,” said Aimee McLaughlin, spokeswoman for The Children’s Network in Southwest Florida, which handles foster care for DCF.

The network currently has two foster care children in David Lawrence who have emotional, behavioral or mental health issues getting treatment, and they will have to be moved, she said. Although the children are in foster care, family members can still see them, but being placed out of the region makes that more difficult.

Dr. Karen Slater, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Estero, said the residential beds are needed, just as non-residential care is essential. She once practiced in Connecticut and is surprised at how lacking the region is for treatment options.

“Down here it’s like absolutely almost nothing,” she said, adding that she has to refer to David Lawrence on a few occasions. “I think the facilities for children in this area are incredibly unavailable.”

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) in Collier County said it has received more requests for assistance of parents of school-aged children for psychiatric treatment this year than any other.

“The closing of the Bridges program will be devastating to those children and their families who are in need of the level of care Bridges provided,” said Kathryn Leib Hunter, NAMI’s executive director in Collier. “We are hopeful that another agency will apply to the Department of Children and Families for those dollars.”

David Winters, president and chief executive officer of Lee Mental Health in Lee County, said he is not surprised that more children from the more populous Lee are being admitted than from Collier.

“In any kind of regional program, that is going to happen,” he said.

The state Legislature, in session right now, is grappling with making millions in budget cuts, and funding for mental health and other health-care programs are always among the first to get reduced, he said. In that regard, program directors are re-evaluating what services they provide and core missions, he said.

He couldn’t say whether his organization would consider pursuing any of the children’s residential beds that David Lawrence is closing. Lee Mental Health has children’s crisis beds but no residential treatment beds for kids.

“This is an area that would require a lot of investigating before I jump into anything,” Winters said. “We are in a world of change right now. I can’t believe there is any agency serving mental health needs that are not looking at their core mission.”