Butte County Grand Jury • 2008-2009

Butte County Grand Jury Report 2008/2009 Butte County Department of Behavioral Health

Published: September 08, 2008 12 pages
View Original PDF

Findings and Recommendations 18 findings

F1
There is no plan in place to hire a permanent Director who will reorganize and stabilize BCDBH.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The Board of Supervisors needs to prioritize recruitment for a Permanent Director of BCDBH with the medical staff and Behavioral Health Board strongly involved in the process of interviewing every single applicant.
F2
There is no Medical Director in BCDBH for the overall management of medical/ clinical staff, nor a spokesperson to advocate for the medical/clinical staff in administrative deci- sion making. 21
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
A Medical Director should be actively recruited. The cost of doing so could be offset by reimbursement through Medi-Cal billing for direct services and billing for administrative claim-for-management time. It is recommended that the Medical Director see patients a percentage of his/her workday, as well as represent and direct the medical and clinical staff.
F3
There is a lack of a transparent, financial, and statistical data reporting system.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
BCDBH should follow government transparency guidelines. Financial reporting and data should be understandable and readily accessible upon request. The at-a-glance, “Dashboard Report,” currently in development, should be implemented as soon as possi- ble to provide on-demand information.
F4
There is a lack of productive communication, trust, and cooperation within the various di- visions that comprise BCDBH.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Communication, cooperation, and trust need to be fostered by administration.
F5
There is a lack of effective leadership, due to lack of leadership training.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
HR should provide appropriate leadership training to promote effective leaders within BCDBH.
F6
There is a lack of monitoring and administering of the increased number of contracts.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
A plan and process for monitoring contracts should be developed.
F7
Productivity levels appear lower than the standard in some areas of BCDBH.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Productivity levels need to be established and enforced. Qualified medical and clinical su- pervisors should interface with patients a percentage of the time.
F8
There is a lack of contracted residential facilities for youth in crisis in Butte County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
Additional residential facilities that meet state mandated requirements and licensing qualifications should be encouraged for the purpose of treating and housing youth locally. This would be advantageous to the families involved and save the County a great deal of money.
F9
There is a lack of contracted residential facilities for adults in crisis in Butte County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
Additional residential facilities that meet state mandate requirements and licensing qualifications should be developed for treating and housing adults needing long-term placement locally, again saving out-of-county costs.
F10
There has been a lack of local partnering with a hospital or facility that can hospitalize and treat patients locally. Meetings are being held to foster partnerships.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10
Partnerships with local hospitals in the County need to be developed for the collabora- tive treatment and care of severely mentally ill patients.
F11
There was a lack of a Systems Performance Evaluation Coordinator in the past. This posi- tion has just been assigned and is in the process of classification.
Related Recommendations (1)
R11
The classification process and position allocation for the Systems Performance Evaluation Coordinator should be completed and accepted by the Board of Supervisors as soon as possible.
F12
Overhead costs that were too high in relation to the budget have been reduced to qualify for state reimbursement.
Related Recommendations (1)
R12
Overhead operating costs should continue to be monitored and kept at or below the state requirement level of fifteen percent to qualify for state reimbursement. 23
F13
The Grand Jury found the Butte County Board of Supervisors to be surprisingly un- informed, and un-involved in overseeing and monitoring the Department of Behavioral Health’s fiscal affairs, structure of management, and administrative decisions made for the Department. When questioned they were unable to answer most of the Grand Jury’s in- quiries about the Department.
Related Recommendations (1)
R13
The Board of Supervisors should become more regularly informed and more involved with the fiscal affairs and administrative structure of BCDBH.
F14
The PHF was visited and found to be well staffed, extremely clean, and full to its sixteen bed capacity.
Related Recommendations (1)
R14
The Psychiatric Health Facility should retain full coverage staffing in order to continue to operate at full capacity.
F15
The Crisis Stabilization Unit is now fully staffed 24-7 and is in compliance with state mandates as of March 7, 2009.
Related Recommendations (1)
R15
The Crisis Stabilization Unit should retain full coverage staffing in order to continue to operate at full capacity.
F16
Caseload ratios in the clinics and counseling centers need to be studied and adjusted accordingly.
Related Recommendations (1)
R16
Clinics and counseling center’s caseload ratios should be studied and reassessed.
F17
Representative Payee Program was slated to be discontinued but following protest from medical and clinical staff, the program is presently fully maintained. Grant monies that supported the program in the past have now been diverted to a homeless program. The Representative Payee Program is currently being supported by realignment funds.
Related Recommendations (1)
R17
The Representative Payee Program should be continued in its full capacity and should not be outsourced.
F18
The outside audit report done in August-September, 2008 has not been received to date. 22
Related Recommendations (1)
R18
The Board of supervisors should pursue receipt of the outside audit done in August- September, 2008.

No Responses Found 3

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Butte County Board of Supervisors Elected County Office
Butte County Office of Education Agency
County of Butte Agency