NORWICH – Acting on an executive-level request, supervisors responsible for overseeing the financial side of Chenango County’s government tabled a discussion Wednesday about adding four new positions in next year’s projected $3.8 million Mental Health department budget.
The positions have already earned favor in two committees so far, despite meeting with controversy on two previous occasions within the Finance Committee. Three new clinicians and one clerical worker are necessary, according to the department’s director, to offer a fully-funded New York State Department of Mental Health program called Child & Family Clinic Plus. A DOM study found the state’s counties lacking in providing mental health services to youths.
Financial leaders have questioned whether the additional jobs are needed, and whether adding staff would or would not end up costing taxpayers should the DOM drop the program in the future.
Committee Chairman Lawrence N. Wilcox, R-Oxford, said Board Chairman Richard B. Decker, R-North Norwich, asked him to direct a review of the budget Wednesday morning without the additional positions. Since county Treasurer William E. Evans had not received the same directive, the positions were included within the documents prepared and distributed to members of the committee.
Department Director Mary Ann Spryn said she was briefed of the change just prior to attending the meeting, and suggested an executive session to discuss the matter. After questions concerning the legality of an executive session arose, however, Supervisor Richard Schlag, D-German, asked for consultation from the county’s attorney to determine if one were warranted. The county’s attorney elected not to rule on the matter, and Wilcox instead entertained a motion to table the budget until the Oct. 13 meeting.
Other Mental Hygiene Services budgets were scrutinized. Although Spryn’s $230,000 Intensive Case Management budget called for no increase in the local share, Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown pointed to Medicaid revenues totaling approximately $40,000 owed the county from previous years. A lag in payments traditionally cause such discrepancies, Spryn said, due to state billing and budgeting schedules. Evans agreed that accounting procedures need to be tightened up.
“I know the lag is tough for this department, and it’s hard to tell revenues because they come in late, but better budget analysis is needed,” he said. Schlag requested data that would at least show how the county ended up in 2005 before projecting 2007’s budget.
The committee elected to increase revenues anticipated from private pay and insurance companies covering substance abuse services in order to show a decrease in the $900,000 Alcohol & Drug Abuse budget. Brown cautioned about “bumping up revenues without cutting expenses.”
“We agreed to support this program with what the state pays. Now we are at the top of that and finding revenues from elsewhere,” he said.
In other action, the committee passed through the eight divisions that make up the Public Health Department’s $4.3 million budget. Children’s Services’ $2.5 million portion was moved with a referral for the department to develop an evaluation process for contracted special education professionals and therapists.
“We are spending $17,000 and $18,000 a pop for 100 kids in this program. Can we hold contractors accountable for meeting their goals?” Brown asked.
“I don’t know how you can hold success over the head of the providers,” Schlag said. “It’s a tough thing to evaluate, but it’s fine if we try to come up with some sort of way.”
Chenango County Public Health Director Marcus Flindt said it is difficult to determine therapists’ success with the variations in children’s problems. About 75 percent of the individuals seen in Early Intervention Services (birth to 3 year-olds) move onto Pre-School Special Needs (3 to 5 year-olds) and continue into special education programs within the public school system.
“I absolutely agree with Mr. Brown’s concern. Unfortunately, if it’s not working for some kids, I think we will still be spending the same amount of money,” said Flindt.
Wilcox said he was pleased with new dialogue that has opened up between Children’s Services and the public schools as requested by the Finance Committee two years ago. But he agreed that periodic reports concerning youths’ progress and contractors’ successes would help him “to see some sort of progress.”
“We’ve been in this business for decades,” Brown said. “When are we ever going to know how we are doing? Are we better off than we were? The only answer I get is we spend more money and have higher numbers. ... We can’t be very good stewards of the county’s money, the state’s or anyone else’s if we don’t try.”
Also at the meeting, the committee agreed to create another position within the county attorney’s nearly $240,000 budget. Breslin said he needed the third part-time assistant because his work load had increased, family court cases had increased and the county’s budget had increased.
“I’m not getting to things as quickly as I used to,” he said.
Brown, who was late to the meeting and missed voting on Breslin’s budget, expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision. “If you can’t blame anything else, you can go ahead and blame Family Court because nobody knows what’s going on in Family Court,” he said.