Members of Cayuga County Community Services Board and County Manager Wayne Allen are not seeing eye to eye on the functions of the CSB, particularly as it relates to the county's mental health clinic building project.
Interim CSB chairwoman Linda Albrecht, along with three other members, have brought their concerns to the county Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee.
Albrecht cited an e-mail sent from Allen shortly after the county Legislature pulled a resolution that would have given power to hire the director of the CSB to the Legislature. The CSB has since retained that control. The person hired into the CSB director role on an interim basis, Katharine O'Connell, was also hired by the Legislature to run the mental health services department. The two positions carry specific responsibility, and both were also held by David Blair before he resigned earlier this year.
Allen, though, said the CSB should not be overseeing mental health services, which includes a new clinic project.
“I would recommend to the Legislature that the Community Services Board does not participate in any activities in the county's department (of) mental health services, which includes staffing, funding and the capital project,” Allen's e-mail said.
In the first few months after Blair left, Albrecht and CSB co-chairwoman Deb Schwarting met weekly with county officials and the people who ran the clinic. Those meetings have stopped.
“Nobody really had the pieces and we met to make sure we were all on top of what was going on in the clinic,” Albrecht said. “After June, we were not part of anything.”
There has been some confusion about what role the CSB had in the past and what it will be in the future, Allen said. O'Connell serves two roles as director of Community Services and director of the mental health clinic. Essentially, she is the department head and is responsible for providing services, supervising staff and managing the budget. The CSB has no direct relationship with the clinic other than being the legal vehicle to provide the service, Allen said.
“That's where I was coming from (in) my recommendation back in June. There needs to be a recommendation here so that the CSB understands ... they're not going to go in and supervise staff and appropriate money,” Allen said. “We gave them the courtesy to participate in our discussions. ... There was no intention by the county that they were going to have direct supervision, direct input into the operation of the department. The interim was going to do that. We were giving them some inside knowledge of the problems.”
The meetings were for informative purposes, not for the board to manage and handle the problems, Allen said, and they stopped after the county and the board gained an understanding of the problems.
Allen said that members of the Community Services Board participated and observed as staff and department heads made recommendations to the program design of the building.
“They have to understand that they're not making the final decision on that project. That's a county building, it's a county department and the funds are being approved by the County Legislature. ... They've been provided access that no one's been provided before,” he said. “They don't manage the department, they don't run the clinic, they don't do any of that. That's a county responsibility.
“I appreciate their concern, I think they're very well-intended individuals,” he said. “Will we share with them the issues that face the county to turn these things around? Of course, but ultimately, it is a county responsibility.”
The Community Services Board has an important role in coming up with an annual mental health plan for the county and monitoring performance and quality management, Allen said, and if any concerns or deficiencies are recognized they should be reported.
During last week's Legislature Health and Human Services Committee meeting, legislator Peter Tortorici said that he can see the Community Services Board's frustration. Tortorici, R-Auburn, said he believes this is a communication problem. He recommended that any meetings or resolutions concerning the mental health project be e-mailed to the CSB.
Albrecht understands where Allen is coming from, she said, “but to go from courtesy to discourtesy doesn't feel right.”
The bottom line is that the CSB represents the Legislature in this process, Albrecht said. She believes that that the clinic is the board's responsibility because they appoint the Director of Community Services.
“That was (Wayne's) interpretation and we've been trying to get clarity on that issue,” Albrecht said in response to Allen's statements. “And I'm not sure that Wayne's interpretation is consistent with what the state intended.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
Albrecht cited an e-mail sent from Allen shortly after the county Legislature pulled a resolution that would have given power to hire the director of the CSB to the Legislature. The CSB has since retained that control. The person hired into the CSB director role on an interim basis, Katharine O'Connell, was also hired by the Legislature to run the mental health services department. The two positions carry specific responsibility, and both were also held by David Blair before he resigned earlier this year.
Allen, though, said the CSB should not be overseeing mental health services, which includes a new clinic project.
“I would recommend to the Legislature that the Community Services Board does not participate in any activities in the county's department (of) mental health services, which includes staffing, funding and the capital project,” Allen's e-mail said.
In the first few months after Blair left, Albrecht and CSB co-chairwoman Deb Schwarting met weekly with county officials and the people who ran the clinic. Those meetings have stopped.
“Nobody really had the pieces and we met to make sure we were all on top of what was going on in the clinic,” Albrecht said. “After June, we were not part of anything.”
There has been some confusion about what role the CSB had in the past and what it will be in the future, Allen said. O'Connell serves two roles as director of Community Services and director of the mental health clinic. Essentially, she is the department head and is responsible for providing services, supervising staff and managing the budget. The CSB has no direct relationship with the clinic other than being the legal vehicle to provide the service, Allen said.
“That's where I was coming from (in) my recommendation back in June. There needs to be a recommendation here so that the CSB understands ... they're not going to go in and supervise staff and appropriate money,” Allen said. “We gave them the courtesy to participate in our discussions. ... There was no intention by the county that they were going to have direct supervision, direct input into the operation of the department. The interim was going to do that. We were giving them some inside knowledge of the problems.”
The meetings were for informative purposes, not for the board to manage and handle the problems, Allen said, and they stopped after the county and the board gained an understanding of the problems.
Allen said that members of the Community Services Board participated and observed as staff and department heads made recommendations to the program design of the building.
“They have to understand that they're not making the final decision on that project. That's a county building, it's a county department and the funds are being approved by the County Legislature. ... They've been provided access that no one's been provided before,” he said. “They don't manage the department, they don't run the clinic, they don't do any of that. That's a county responsibility.
“I appreciate their concern, I think they're very well-intended individuals,” he said. “Will we share with them the issues that face the county to turn these things around? Of course, but ultimately, it is a county responsibility.”
The Community Services Board has an important role in coming up with an annual mental health plan for the county and monitoring performance and quality management, Allen said, and if any concerns or deficiencies are recognized they should be reported.
During last week's Legislature Health and Human Services Committee meeting, legislator Peter Tortorici said that he can see the Community Services Board's frustration. Tortorici, R-Auburn, said he believes this is a communication problem. He recommended that any meetings or resolutions concerning the mental health project be e-mailed to the CSB.
Albrecht understands where Allen is coming from, she said, “but to go from courtesy to discourtesy doesn't feel right.”
The bottom line is that the CSB represents the Legislature in this process, Albrecht said. She believes that that the clinic is the board's responsibility because they appoint the Director of Community Services.
“That was (Wayne's) interpretation and we've been trying to get clarity on that issue,” Albrecht said in response to Allen's statements. “And I'm not sure that Wayne's interpretation is consistent with what the state intended.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
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