Mental Health Management Issues

The Jury finds that the Board of Supervisors and the Department of Mental Health have taken the following three steps to address the problems reported by past Grand Juries: • An independent consultant has been hired to make an organizational assessment of the Mental Health Department that will include employee interviews, a program to strengthen leadership skills, an action plan and a six-month follow-up assessment. This sixteen-month contract will be completed by December 31, 2003. • At the Norton Psychiatric Emergency Facility, 3.2 additional full-time equivalent managerial positions and 6.2 full time equivalent staff positions have been created and are currently are being filled. • Funding has been approved for security improvements at the Norton Center. The exterior construction such as doors, ramps, and keypad locks is now completed. However, because of the stringent requirements of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the current plan for interior security improvements is not acceptable. The Norton Psychiatric Emergency Facility, now 63 years old, must be brought up to newly mandated State codes before the proposed security construction is permitted. These requirements exceed the allocated budget.

The high employee turnover rates alleged to exist at Chanate are not confirmed by data from the County Human Resources Department. Employee turnover rates for the Mental Health Department are about average as compared to other county departments.

The four interviews completed suggest that the present employee morale at Chanate is as poor as that reported in the Final Reports of three previous Grand Juries. Conclusions The Mental Health Department has taken steps to improve working conditions for the staff. However, problems in staff and management relations appear not to have changed. Because of the nature of the population that the staff deals with, it is the consensus of the Jury that management should be more sensitive to the potential for heightened stress among its employees and more supportive of their concerns. It is the hope of the Grand Jury that the consultant’s efforts will be able to address and correct existing problems. The effectiveness of the consultation can be determined only by a future Grand Jury.