Judge to Limit Pay Raises at ASH: Salary Equal Ity

By Stephen Curran, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

May 22–Union members picketing outside Atascadero State Hospital fell quiet Monday after learning that a federal judge indicated he would order equal pay for only a small number of clinicians.

Judge Lawrence K. Karlton told lawyers representing California’s mentally ill inmates that he planned to order the state Mental Health Department to raise some clinicians’ salaries to equal those offered by the state prison system.

But that order would apply only to a small number of psychiatrists and other clinical staff who work exclusively with mentally ill prisoners who remain in custody of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation while getting care at ASH or other state hospitals, according to Michael Bien, the inmates’ attorney.

Clinicians who care for patients in Mental Health Department custody would not see a court-ordered raise.

Few other details, such as how many clinical staffers would be affected, were available Monday. An official order is expected later this week.

Bien said Karlton’s direction could create two separate classes of mental health clinicians — the small minority who care for dis-

turbed prisoners at a higher salary and those who care for the general patient population.

Of ASH’s roughly 1,000 patients, 81 in three units are classified as mentally ill prisoners, hospital spokeswoman Barrie Hafler said.

Bien said Karlton’s order could shift the burden to the state to equalize salaries for those mental health workers not covered by the pay raise.

“I think that would have a terrible effect on staff,” if the raises were not applied across the board, Bien said.

Kirsten Deichert, a spokeswoman for the Mental Health Department, declined to comment until the order is issued.

News of Karlton’s pending decision spread fast among the dozen members of two leading unions who had gathered outside ASH to picket for equal pay.

Tony Myers, state president of the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, addressed his visibly disappointed members shortly after receiving word by phone of Karlton’s decision.

“The state was looking to the judge to deal with the issue,” Myers said from outside ASH’s main entrance. “Am I optimistic? I’m confused.”

Monday’s order came a month after Karlton directed mental health officials to draft a plan to attract new hires.

According to the plan, officials plan to continue reaching out to universities and advertising in newspapers and professional journals.

Vacancy rates, meanwhile, have reached 80 percent for psychiatrists and 25 percent for psychiatric technicians as longtime employees leave for better- paying jobs at state prisons.

Concerns over the mounting departures prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month to set aside $9.4 million in unused Mental Health Department funds to more closely align salaries with those at the prisons.

Union leaders and other employees criticized the plan, which would have left Mental Health Department salaries about 5 percent below those at prisons for psychiatrists and would fall about 18 percent short for psychiatric technicians.

Employees had looked to Karlton to address the shortages by possibly ordering that the state increase salaries for all mental health workers regardless of which patients they treat.

But the pressure, Bien said, should be directed to the state.

“Everyone’s missing this point,” Bien said. “(Karlton’s) not going to take over this agency. It’s not appropriate to expect a federal judge to solve this problem.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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