PEF helps
spotlight poor care, understaffing
State stops
discharging mentally ill to substandard adult homes
By DEBORAH A. MILES
Riveting testimony from PEF leaders and members has
helped spotlight appalling conditions found in adult
homes for the mentally ill.
Last spring, a state Assembly committee heard testimony
and released a report this October, after a series of
newspaper articles exposed substandard conditions and
abuses suffered by thousands of mentally ill residents.
And in October, the governor required the state Office of
Mental Health (OMH) to maintain a
“do-not-refer” list of homes to which mentally
ill patients will no longer be discharged.
The Assembly report, “Broken Promises, Broken
Lives,” focuses on the status of the mental health
care delivery system in New York. It addresses the
problems of administrative negligence on a statewide
level, citing failures by the governor such as refusing
to spend hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked by the
Legislature to improve the mental health system under the
Mental Health Community Reinvestment Act.
Planning
neglects needs
It also explains and examines the state Mental Hygiene
Law that requires development of long term plans by state
agencies servicing the mentally ill.
“This so-called planning process often fails to take
into account the extent of unmet needs, the
appropriateness and efficacy of services provided, and
the critical importance of maintaining a viable safety
net of state-operated services,” said Benson in his
testimony quoted in the Assembly report.
“The failure of OMH to document the specific capital
needs at existing and proposed facilities leads to
additional skepticism,” he added.
Media uncovered
scandals
In a series of articles on negligence, abuse, fraud,
prostitution, drug dealing and even death in adult homes,
The New York Times documented how OMH has failed to live
up to the requirements of the law. The committee reviewed
these charges, and looked into the placement of
non-violent mentally ill persons discharged from
psychiatric centers to adult homes.
System
‘numbers’ driven
PEF Vice President Pat Baker, a discharge planner at
Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, said discharging patients
became a numbers game.
PEF Region 11 Coordinator Alan Schulkin is also quoted in
the Assembly report testifying that, “They
didn’t care how you got people out of the hospitals,
just as long as you got them out.”
Benson told lawmakers, “A significant part of the
adult home problem stems from the lack of follow-up once
an individual is discharged from any of these
institutions. Oversight of facilities is not enough; we
must provide continuous support to individuals.”
Baker said it took the state too long to review the care
and treatment of mentally ill residents, and it took
investigative media reports to bring this issue to the
public’s attention.
Follow-up got
short shrift
“Homes for the mentally ill have had a major problem
for a long time,” Baker said. “The state had to
meet its discharge quota, without concern or follow-up
for the individual. We can only hope the Assembly
committee and task force will rectify the shameful
deficiencies found throughout OMH.”
PEF leaders said they will continue to urge better care
of mentally ill residents and safe staffing levels.
PLANNING AHEAD
— PEF Vice President Pat Baker tells the
union’s regional and division leaders at the state
Offices of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities they must develop long-range
strategic plans to protect and improve state services at
their agencies. — Photo by Sherry Halbrook
Court: GOER must
enforce order at SIF
PEF has received a favorable ruling from the state
Supreme Court, Albany County, in a lawsuit that requires
the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER)
to enforce its own out-of-title decision.
The decision holds that the state Insurance Fund (SIF)
was employing medical care representatives (MCRs) in
out-of-title duties, and ordered SIF to cease and desist.
PEF originally agreed to hold the cease-and-desist order
in abeyance because management said those MCR positions
would be reclassified and upgraded.
However, when no progress was made on the
reclassifications and PEF demanded the state comply with
the cease and desist order, SIF continued to use MCRs in
out-of-title duties and GOER did not enforce its order.
PEF then filed an Article 78 proceeding to compel GOER to
enforce the cease and desist order.
“We are very pleased the court has agreed with our
position that GOER must enforce its orders and require
state agencies to comply with grievance decisions,”
said PEF President Roger Benson. “That’s the
real point of this case.” In October, the state
filed an appeal of the Supreme Court’s order.
—-Deborah A. Miles
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Member In Action: Highlights
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PEF Membership Benefits
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Union Matters
Trustees Report to the '02
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Financial Supplement (Audit)
PEF helps spotlight poor
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Members’ 9/11 tribute
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