Will local control hurt MH/MR services?

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

HONESDALE, PA — The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in the middle of reviewing Wayne County’s proposal to separate from the mental health/mental retardation (MH/MR) services joinder that ties three counties. Many fear the transfer of control is impossible without diminishing the quality of behavioral health services.

Active members of the MH/MR community argued both sides of the issue at two public hearings last week, often categorizing dissolution of the single service area—which includes Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne (LSW) Counties—as either reform or regression. If approved, the change would take effect July 1.

Timothy Boyde, who is serving as Wayne County’s interim MH/MR director, has explained a rationale for Wayne’s MH/MR independence from the LSW joinder, saying, “We hope to beef up services in Wayne County by assuming ownership. You must realize that in a joinder situation, you’re always competing with another county for services.

“We’ve taken an exhaustive, painstaking look at this,” Boyde said.

About 230 Wayne residents rely on MR services and 1,500 rely on MH services, though mental health patients often slide in and out of treatment, he said.

While Boyde expects the change to alleviate competition, he and Andrea Whyte, Wayne County’s human services administrator, have repeatedly said they expect no additional funding.

Approximately $5.7 million in state and federal funds come to Wayne County every year by way of the LSW joiner. After the county infuses money from its budget, a total of about $6 million is allocated to contract with an interrelated network of MH/MR service providers.

The agency that has provided the largest part of psychiatric care through medical assistance in Wayne County during the last 29 years is Tri-County Human Services Center, Inc, which also serves Upper Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties.

Tri-County Executive Director George Dermody said he would work closely with Boyde in transferring patients’ information to minimize any difficulty caused by the dissolution, if it is approved by the state.

“We’re going to have to evaluate if there will be sufficient funding to maintain the level of psychiatric care we currently provide in Wayne County,” Dermody said.

But then he concluded, “Our ability to meet the real cost of that will be diminished.”

Boyde said he realizes Tri-County will endure the most exposure during the change. “We’re concerned about it. We want to keep everybody,” Boyde said, referring to a future contract with the agency.

At the public hearing held in Honesdale, PA, Damascus resident Linda Lagarenne said her adopted children were, in the past, sent back and forth between drug and alcohol and MH/MR agencies without adequate communication. She voiced support for the transition to local control, saying that tracking people down to learn about her children is difficult and frustrating in the current system.

As he read his comments, Dermody asked, “At a time when sharing of goods and services with a regional approach is being discussed throughout northeastern Pennsylvania, how does moving in the opposite direction fit?”

“Because of state budget funding, this is a challenging time for delivering MH/MR services. The funding is not keeping up with the increasing costs of delivering services,” Dermody said during a phone interview following the hearing.

“Providers are continually asked to do more with less. The system at this point is very strained.”