ADMHS to cut one-fourth services in 2008-09

 

Despite having been bailed out of its current $7-plus million deficit, the Santa Barbara County Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Department announced March 11 that it is bracing for a 25 percent cut in services in the upcoming fiscal year.

In an attempt to demonstrate how it will fix problems associated with its current deficit, mental health department representatives told the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors it plans to slash a good portion of its programs next year.

 

“We’re taking this challenge on to see if we can set a foundation for the future,” said ADMHS Department Director Ann Detrick.

The department estimates a 2008-2009 fiscal year budget of about $26.5 million, 8.4 million less than it is current budget. The proposed cuts are predicted to mostly affect community based programs, county clinics, and programs.

Decreases in services are expected to increase acute psychiatric inpatient care, homelessness, and occupancy at detox centers. It also predicts a rise in arrests, emergency room visits, and foster care placements.

 

“We expect that there will be waiting lists and some people might have to travel to get the same services,” Detrick said. “We will have to reevaluate the types and frequency of service delivery.”

Detrick also added that managing services to uninsured clients was of particular concern.

After receiving a short presentation on improvement areas and effects of the cuts, the board voted 4-1 to allot the economically challenged department another $2.3 million of reserve funds to help balance its out-of-whack 2007-2008 budget.

The allotment was conditional on the board’s approval and contention that the department was taking proactive steps to alleviate its current deficit and prevent future ones.

The department failed to pin-point specific improvements but instead offered a generic framework to restructure its business and services operations.

 

The department needs to change how it does business, Detrick said.

“We cannot spend more than we can afford to do,” she said.

She assured the board that the department was meticulously looking at current contracts with providers and holding them accountable to terms.

The department needs to know what it is purchasing, how much it’s paying to make sure it’s getting outcomes, she said.

“We know that we really need to get in line with these practices,” she said. “We got to track all of the dollars and be really sound in our business.”

 

Third District Supervisor Brooks Firestone, who cast the sole dissenting vote against granting the department the second allotment, criticized the department’s strategy and appeared unimpressed by the presentation or the talks of future cuts.

“Frankly I’m disappointed,” he said, adding that he hoped the department would have quantifiable results by the next quarter.

Though 2nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf called the cuts draconian and questioned the county’s commitment to health programs, she and 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray shared Firestone’s opinion about the department’s superficial strategic approach.

“It’s definitely a balancing act,” Wolf said.

 

Gray, chiming in, said the presentation didn’t do a good enough job of outlining the department’s strategy.

“I don’t understand what is going to be done differently,” she said. “What I see is very basic.”

ADMHS will be presenting the board with its final update in 30 days and should have its final 2008-2009 fiscal year budget prepared within two months.

To view the ADMHS presentation shown to the board March 11, visit www.countyofsb.org.