Public health, welfare and
mental health services comprise a large share of the county budget, but when
the 2014-15 Marin County Grand Jury took a look at the mental health division’s
budget this board of court-appointed citizens could not figure out how it added
up.
They issued a report calling
for greater clarity in county spending so the general public could understand
the costs and benefits of the division’s programs and services.
Much of the department’s
budget — about 30 percent of the county’s annual spending plan — is state and
federal grants and programs and services that are contracted out to provide and
nonprofit providers.
County supervisors, who
approve those expenditures on almost a weekly basis, agreed with the grand jury
and Supervisor Steve Kinsey credited the citizens’ assessment as providing
“momentum” for making changes.
The budget will be revised to
do a better job of tracking costs and detailing their use.
In addition, the supervisors
and the grand jury are on the same page when it comes to keeping the Helen Vine
Detox Center open. The center provides a vital community service in helping
people sober up and help them to a path to stay that way. The center will
likely have to move, but the county’s goal is to have a new center up and running
before its lease expires next year.
Because of
its bureaucratic complexities, often grand juries opt for easier topics that
trying to unravel mental health costs and services. The 2014-15 grand jury
deserves credit for tackling this important slice of county services and
publicly recommended long-needed changes.
August 10, 2015
Marin
Independent Journal
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