Legislative leaders agreed Thursday to shift $8.4 million away from mental health funding for children, but not before hammering the Department of Human Resources' response to Georgia's mental health crisis.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said the General Assembly made a policy statement this year when it voted to increase the amount of money spent on mental health services, only to have DHR request that the funding be cut two months after the 2008 legislative session ended.

"We need to get in front of this issue," said Cagle. "The General Assembly has appropriated the money. It's a question of how it's being spent, and I'm not satisfied with the answers we're getting.

"I am not confident we have a real strategy for mental health," Cagle added. He said he wants to see an audit of state mental health funding to "make sure it's going to the right places."

But Gov. Sonny Perdue defended the shift in funding to other DHR programs, a move the Fiscal Affairs Committee voted 8-4 to approve. Perdue said no children are going without mental health services.

He said the agency overestimated the amount of money it needed to serve children with mental illnesses this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

"If the children had shown up, the money would have been there," Perdue said. "This is not taking money away from mental health."

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a scathing letter to Perdue about "critically deficient" conditions at the state mental hospital in Atlanta.

Care in the hospital's adolescent unit, in particular, drew heavy criticism. The letter quoted one employee of the unit as saying patients "would be safer outside" the hospital, and another who described "continuing clinical chaos."

Federal investigators listed 13 pages of corrective action they said was necessary for Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta, including hiring additional medical and support staff members.

State officials have until late July to agree to major reforms or face a possible lawsuit.

Some of the mental-health money lawmakers agreed to transfer Thursday would replace allocations that Georgia lost recently when the federal government tightened restrictions on funding state child-welfare-related services.

The rest would cover a deficit in child adoption services and pay higher workers' compensation premiums for mental-health employees.

DHR Commissioner B.J. Walker said those financial commitments must be covered.

Because the state can't legally run a budget deficit, some lawmakers who supported the shift said they felt they had no choice but to approve it.

"That influenced my vote," said Rep. Richard Royal (R-Camilla), a member of the committee.

The move surprised mental-health advocates, who have been asking for more money for services for years. Advocates say long-standing funding problems have undermined the mental-health system.

Cagle and House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans) were among the committee members who opposed the transfer. Harbin said if there are mental health needs not being met, "it would be irresponsible to transfer the money."

Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) said, "What we hear out there on the ground is that there is a shortage of services. I am not convinced we are meeting the needs of the state."

Harbin said there is also a shortage of services for adults with mental illness.

Walker told lawmakers that DHR is working hard to address concerns raised about the quality and quantity of mental health care.

"We all feel a sense of urgency about it," she said.