The other major item on Tuesday’s agenda — after the Board gave themselves a big raise, connected future raises to their own handouts to subordinates, and ignored critical public comment as usual — was another peripatetic discussion of the upcoming Mental Health services contract, presently owned by the Shraeders omnibus monopoly in Ukiah.
As is typical, the discussion bounced around a few nice Powerpoint slides provided by County Behavioral Health/Public Health Director Dr. Jenine Miller in advance of the release of an RFP for “specialty mental health services” expected to be released in October. (Or maybe it was the issuance of contracts in October; we couldn’t tell.)
Dr. Miller took several opportunities to explain that her department only handles “specialty” mental health services and clients, i.e., the “severely mentally ill.” (Dr. Miller used the analogy that if you have heart problems and go to a cardiologist, that’s “specialty” service; if you have heart problems and don't go to a cardiologist/specialist, that’s not “specialty” services.) Unfortunately, Dr. Miller conflates “services” with “insurance,” therefore her department is concerned mainly with who pays, not what services are provided or whether they make any real difference.
Medi-Cal (California’s federal Medicaid program) reimburses the County for “specialty” services provided to the “severely mentally ill.” Partnership Health Plan, an amorphous statewide public/private insurance agency handles “managed care” or Obamacare (also under Medicaid) covering the less than severely mentally ill.
These blurry bureaucratic distinctions are important because, as Dr. Miller explained to Supervisor Gjerde, the seemingly nutty street people seen around Ukiah and to a lesser degree elsewhere around the County may or may not be Dr. Miller’s clients. They could be dual diagnosis (i.e., drug addled and crazy; not County clients), or retarded (developmentally disabled; not County clients), or not quite crazy enough to be declared “severely mentally ill,” therefore, outside of Dr. Miller’s purview.
The contract(s) are are estimated to be worth at least $30 million in total, not counting the overhead and administration that is apparently being brought back in house to Dr. Miller’s staff, plus a host of smaller sole-source contract add-ons for afterthoughts and special add-ons.
Supervisor Williams devoted most of his lengthy and repetitive comments to trying to improve the way service provider effectiveness is measured, a point he has raised often in the past, to no avail.
The Schraeders are always ready with lots of statistics, but they don’t provide much more than how many clients are in which program for how long, not whether their clients are better off after being processed by the Schraeders.
Dan Anderson, one of Schraeders’ top managers, expressed frustration at Williams’ comments saying that Williams implied that they weren’t doing as good a job as they should.
“We provide a lot of data every month, every year to the Behavioral Health Advisory Board and on web pages,” insisted Anderson. “We responded with study groups and data by location, outcomes, housing, symptoms. To say we don’t have data is very politically driven. Very frustrating. Forgive me if I sound resentful. But I feel like this conversation is not genuine. It’s frustrating to not recognize the engagement that is happening. It’s going on ten years with the same conversation. It’s frustrating.”
Translation: Criticism, or even implied criticism, is “political,” and doesn’t address all the good things the Schraeders do, therefore “not genuine.”
Williams denied the implication that he was being critical and said he would work with Anderson or the Mental Health RFP team to try to include some meaningful methods of service effectiveness measurement in the contract.
Supervisor Haschak said that the trouble with the data they’ve received so far is that it is “not digestible” by the public. And certainly not by the Board of Supervisors.
Dr. Miller told the Board that under the new contract(s) her staff will farm out the services to various local providers, not necessarily the Schraeders, as has been the case for the last ten years or so. And if the data gathering and tracking software, “Avatar,” works properly, the result will be a smooth-functioning, coordinated mental health service machine and all their clients will move from one program or facility to the other seamlessly.
But, again, it was not clear how many contracts Dr. Miller intends to issue or for what. The language in the board packet says there will be one contractor, but maybe “the contractor” means one of several contractors.
Meanwhile, if you see someone acting strangely on the streets of Ukiah, you can call 911 and they might send out an outreach worker or a deputy or a Ukiah cop or a crisis staffer and hope for the best. If you’re in Fort Bragg you can call their Community Response Unit and probably get a more coordinated response.
If you are one of those naive voters who voted for Measure B some eight years ago now in the expectation that some of the revenue would somehow find its way to one of Dr. Miller’s contracts and would make a difference on the streets, you need to be aware that although the County’s various service providers serve over 1,000 clients, the odds that any given street person or frequent flyer even falls under Dr. Miller’s insurance umbrella are pretty darn low. And that person’s family, if the family is nearby, willing, capable and persistent, is on their own to figure out which path in the maze might be of some help.
Even if Williams somehow manages to get better data about mental health services and outcomes — a seemingly unreachable goal so far — it will only apply to the select clients who Dr. Miller and her contractors deem to be theirs.
PS. In related and somewhat more positive news, the General Services staff reported this week that the low bid for the Psychiatric Health Facility on the site of the old nursing home on Whitmore Lane outside of Ukiah came in at about $13.3 million, less than the County’s mil estimate although there are millions in overhead, contract management and architectural costs in addition to the construction cost itself. Assuming this pans out, will the Supervisors use any savings to provide the 25% minimum amount of Measure B services required by the text of the Measure? Not likely.
IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MOVE, MENDO SUPERVISORS ISSUE A PRESS RELEASE ON THEIR OWN MEETING — albeit just a little biased in favor of themselves… (“Like other exempt county leaders, board members in Mendocino County dedicate themselves tirelessly to constituent welfare.” Even KZYX fundraisers don’t go that far.)
July 23, 2024, Board of Supervisors Meeting Highlights
During the July 23, 2024, meeting, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors approved significant milestones aimed at advancing community infrastructure and services. Key highlights include:
Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) Construction: The Board approved the construction of a Psychiatric Health Facility to bolster mental health services in the County. The $13.3 million contract was awarded to Midstate Construction Company, with a projected timeline of 420 calendar days from the Notice to Proceed.
Fire Districts Funding: Funds from the Essential Services Sales Tax (Measure P), Prop 172 and the Mendocino County Camping Transient Occupancy Tax (Measure D) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 were allocated to support local fire agencies and the Fire Safe Council. These allocations, proposed by the Mendocino County Fire Districts Association of Elected Officials and the Mendocino County Fire Chiefs Association, will be executed quarterly based on final revenue assessments. The Board will review any surplus revenues to ensure prudent financial management. These funding allocations are estimated to be close to $5m for FY 2023-24.
BOS Salary Increase Approval: In a decisive move aimed at ensuring equitable compensation for essential county leadership, the Board of Supervisors voted to approve a salary increase. This decision, though met with some controversy, balanced many factors including statutory obligations, and ensured future increases are tied to the Department Head MOU. Article 11, section 1, of the California Constitution states that the County’s Board of Supervisors shall prescribe by ordinance the compensation of its members, a responsibility undertaken with careful deliberation. Like other exempt county leaders, board members in Mendocino County dedicate themselves tirelessly to constituent welfare. The salary increase acknowledges the demanding nature of their roles, involving continuous oversight and advocacy for all county residents.
State Controller’s Audit Report: The Board received the State Controller’s audit report covering the period from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022. The audit findings will guide ongoing improvements in governance and financial management. Several steps have been taken since Fall 2023 to course correct the issues. Nonetheless, a future agenda item will include an action plan to address findings requiring longer-term correction, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Mark Scaramella notes: The Supervisors have now rigged the pay arrangements to “…ensure future increases are tied to the Department Head MOU…” Translation: Whenever they want to give raises to themselves all they have to do is give raises to their Department heads.
SUPERVISOR RAISE, AN ON-LINE COMMENT: These knuckleheads, who were elected by a bunch of knuckleheads, are running Mendocino County right into the ground.
Have you BEEN to Ukiah? Willits?
A few people actually have money and businesses, and a lot of people are living in old Motel Rooms, crappy old houses, Travel Trailers and god knows what else…
The average income in Mendocino County is $32,000, and it hasn’t gone up much in 10 years…
Why do these idiots, and the idiots in charge of every other county, deserve large raises?
Life in Mendo is educational, but the working people there, the ones who actually have jobs and homes and substance, all commute in from somewhere else, and I met folks in Willits who commuted to San Rafael, to get a decent job…
No wonder, and it is amazing how many people have jobs where they do absolutely nothing of value while pretending to control everything else, and who are paid over $100,000/year!
Same thing in Lake County, same thing in Humboldt County…
And, not a few of these folks actually got their jobs, by running unopposed!
Life is weird, people are kinda funny, but Governments are all disturbingly corrupt, incompetent and nepotistic, and the most toxic narcissists, are sitting in “Supervisor’s Seats” all over Northern California.
“Hmmmm, what should we do today?” “I know, let’s give ourselves a raise!”
Salaries of Mendocino County Employees:
According to Indeed, the average salary for a Mendocino County employee ranges from $35,111 per year for a Senior Staff Assistant to $202,199 per year for an Environmental Health Officer. Hourly pay ranges from $19.46 for a Senior Staff Assistant to $60.39 for Deputy County Counsel. For example, the average hourly pay for a Deputy Sheriff is $35.61, which is 36% higher than the national average. Glassdoor also lists salaries for other County of Mendocino positions, including Social Worker and Staff Assistant.
Hey, enjoy being the only ones keeping up with the costs of living, who actually live in your county!
I’d love some help but anytime I open my mouth to inform people what is happening at these meetings they never attend, I am attacked. THAT, is the problem. The only time people in Mendo open their mouths is to cut others down.
I’ve literally been sitting here for days trying to make sense of “Fiscal Year 2023-2024, Mendocino County Quarter Contract Review”, provided by RSC at the last BHAB meeting. It only makes sense to the person that asked for these metrics. It makes very little to as a person looking for changed outcomes. What I see clearly is that there are very few. Same as we see on the streets. As you have well pointed out, it is always about insurance and the money, that is the only way we will ever find money to provide services for those not covered. I am still a big backer of Dr. Miller, because she has received none, the same amount the BHAB has received.
People running unopposed, again, public apathy. Doesn’t take more than a few hundred people to swing one’s butt into one of those seats, you better believe it’s like a high school prom contest. The first district ignored the best candidate and put in the one with the most money and best pedigree.
No one but providers show up at BHAB meetings and they are not recorded, so no one other than the people that attend get the information and hear the very little the BHAB receives, much less have read and understood it.
I’ve been working to gather the most pertinent information about service providers and their contracts, but it does not come in any form that makes much sense. One needs to go down look at their books and match them against work hours, which by law is required and not happening. Asking to provide better graphics has does nothing but increase the workload on an already under fire agency. It is up to the BHAB, backed by individuals, to better use that access to be part of the ever-changing landscape of who pays for what and who gets left in the cold.
My opinion.