Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Riverside County responds to grand jury criticism

Written by City News Service -

Riverside County officials have addressed several problems in Department of Mental Health operations that were cited in a recent grand jury investigation, while other issues did not warrant action, according to a report accepted without comment Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

In June, the 19-member grand jury released its findings that staffing shortages, poor supervision and fears of workplace retaliation were damaging the effectiveness of the DMH within the county's five adult detention facilities and five juvenile facilities.

The grand jury said half of the funded clinical positions had not been filled in jails, with a growing “backlog” of patient referrals in all detention facilities.

According to the report, morale was suffering because annual performance evaluations had not been completed on up to 60 percent of workers.

The investigation also found the DMH administration was stretched thin, with three supervisors overseeing more than 100 staffers working in the juvenile detention system.

“The grand jury learned that some detention mental health workers are fearful of communicating with supervisors and managers about urgent work-related issues for fear of retaliation,” the report stated. “Testimony also revealed that a number of juvenile DMH clinicians have had on-site visits by their supervisors as few as three times a year.”

The grand jury issued the following recommendations:

• Ensure facilities are adequately staffed with mental health professionals.

• Implement a suggestion program to encourage freer communication that can improve operations.

• Conduct annual employee performance reviews.

• Consolidate administration to improve services within the juvenile detention system.

• Coordinate with the sheriff's department on improving the patient referral service in jails.

In its response to the report, the Executive Office challenged several of the grand jury's findings. County officials wrote that DMH staffing levels were at 91 percent and per diem clinical therapists were being utilized to fill any gaps, allowing the agency to “provide quality mental health services and to respond to requests for services in a timely fashion.”

The Executive Office said workers were regularly advised of their rights and the county's anti-harassment policy, making fears of retaliation unfounded.

The county acknowledged that annual performance reviews were not always conducted on schedule, blaming changes in supervisory staff and vowing to improve.

According to the Executive Office, the county has rectified administrative shortcomings cited by the grand jury by consolidating the management of mental health services in juvenile facilities.

County officials, however, rejected the grand jury's allegations that mental health referrals were not being addressed, saying all inmate psychiatric cases are tracked and the “wait time for services has been significantly reduced.”

The Executive Office said the grand jury's recommendation to develop a program to improve upstream communication at the DMH will be implemented in the future.

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