Committee on Family, Health and Human Services Minutes JOINTLY WITH PUBLIC SAFETY & SECURITY COMMITTEE
May 22, 2007
Committee Members In Attendance: Judy Myers, Chair, William Burton, Kenneth Jenkins, Ursula LaMotte, Lois Bronz, Clinton Young and Marty Rogowsky.
In Attendance: CEO: Bill Randolph DCMH: Dr. Grant Mitchell BOL: Joanne Sold, Kevin Davis, Gideon Mausner, Meera Sawkar and Melanie Montalto.
Items Discussed: The new Commissioner of the Department of Community Mental Health discussed the Department and upcoming changes.
Minutes
Chairwoman Myers called the meeting to order at 12:11 p.m.
Dr. Grant Mitchell, the new Commissioner of the Department of Community Mental Health introduced himself and gave a brief history of his career and how he came to be the new Commissioner. He stated that it has been wonderful so far and that the Department does not need an extreme makeover, it functions well, and has a good reputation.
Commissioner Mitchell provided the Committee with a list of three things he would like to work on at the Department. The first thing he would like to do is a complete overhaul of the Psychiatric Disaster Response Team which is comprised of his department, representatives from the Medical Center, and not-for-profit agencies. He said that the response after the recent flood in Rye and Mamaroneck showed the disfunction of the response team, and that there was little support from the Medical Center and the outside agencies. He has heard of some private practice mental health physcians who would like to get involved and he is looking for a stronger commitment from the agencies and the Medical Center. He would also like to double or triple the amount of people on the team.
Legislator Rogowsky asked if this is a liability to the County in any way. Commissioner Grant explained that everyone on the team must be licensed and must complete a two day training conducted by the Department of Community Mental Health. He also stated that there is no significant cost to do the training because it is provided by the County.
The second thing Commissioner Grant would like to update at the Department is the technology. He stated that there are several databases for separate areas of care that were created by different employees and the databases do not talk to each other. There is no backup system for this data, and the employee that created it is the only person that fully understands it. In the past there has been no involvement from the Information Technology Department at the request of the former Commissioner of Community Mental Health. Commissioner Grant has requested their help and they are currently doing a needs assessment to see what needs to be done to bring the Department up to speed. The needs assessment will take approximately 3 months.
Legislators LaMotte and Rogowsky suggested that the Commissioner attend the NACO conference in July to see if they have any suggestions and to get help with grants and programs.
The third change Commissioner Grant would like to make is something that is coming down from the Governor’s office that he completely agrees with. The state would like to change the way we deliver care so that people with multiple problems do not have to go to several places to get the services that they need and the systems do not communicate. He stated that we need to work with other Departments and agencies to share the responsibility for our clients. He stated that there needs to be more communication between agencies and that there may be some resistance from private providers.
Commissioner Grant stated that the Department will be doing a screening of students in the County schools in the Fall to determine if what needs they may have in an effort to provide preventative services.
Moved by Legislator Rogowsky and seconded by Legislator LaMotte the Committee on Families, Health and Human Services adjourned at 1:05 p.m.
A complete audio recording of the meeting is available for review upon request.
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