EDITORIAL: Falling Down on the Job: County Mental Health Board Fails in Its Task to Offer Solutions.
Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 12:01 CST
By The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Feb. 28--When the Fresno County Board of Supervisors today discusses the $15 million deficit in the Department of Behavioral Health, it will make its difficult decisions armed with an incisive analysis from its mental health board, gleaned from months of fact finding and hearings. Right?
Wrong.
The board is offering no consensus of priorities or recommendations for budget cuts to the supervisors.
After months of public hearings and three meetings, the 16-member board choked. At last week's final meeting, board members argued for an hour over the voting process, made procedural mistakes that had to be corrected by county counsel, voted against several proposals for reducing the deficit, yet provided no alternative solutions for supervisors to consider. Nice work.
The supervisors must be cautious incutting funds for mental health. There may be inefficiencies and outdated practices that can be eliminated. But core services and services that prevent future, more serious, problems should be preserved. That will save money in the long run.
This stalemate from the board illuminates the ineffectiveness of a board stumbling at every turn. The structure alone is cause for concern. It is designed to be 22 members, four appointed by each supervisor, plus a non-voting supervisor and someone from the alcohol and drug board. Twenty percent must be consumers and 20% must be in families of consumers.
Ideally, when something difficult occurs, such as budget woes, the board will be the eyes and ears of the supervisors in the mental health community. It should provide counsel on how best to address problems so elected officials can make wise decisions.
In this case, the mental health board is so dysfunctional and so ineffective that the structure itself should be examined. The county's mental health services to some of the most desperate and sick people in our area are too important to get bogged down in ineffective bureaucracy. People are suffering while they are bickering.
This is not an easy job. Perhaps the board's size alone is crippling: 22 members is way too big. There is infighting and evidence of inadequate training. County counsel needs to staff its meetings to make sure it is adhering to basic rules.
This volunteer board needs attention. The supervisors and the mentally ill residents they serve deserve better.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
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Source: The Fresno Bee
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