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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2002)
November 06, 2002 Clic ¡Portiani» (Dbseruer________ Page A6 Mental Health Services Take Cut continued L from Front localize access for needy neighborhoods. “I consider that to be the standard o f care,” said Peter Davidson, clinical director for Multnomah County’s men tal health and addiction services. So with the seed money, the preexisting clinics ex tended their hours into the evening and weekends. Davidson said the goal was to keep police out o f the mental health system, keep crisis clients out o f the hospitals and reduce the volume o f non-crisis calls to the mental crisis hotline. Before the walk-in clinics opened, he said it wasn’t uncommon for people to call the crisis line or check into a hospital when they were not really suicidal. “Why did people have to call the crisis line or go to a hospital just to get help after six p.m. in our $85 million system? We need to get rid o f this notion that mental health care is only provided during banking hours,” Davidson said. “Mental illness doesn’t go away at five p.m., but our mental health system did.” Then why after only a year o f services is Multnomah County disbanding its local access philosophy? In October a private non-profit provider called Cascadia Behavioral Health Care was awarded a $4 million contract from the county to run a 24-hour access clinic at 43rd and Division in addition to operating the crisis lines and a mobile outreach unit that can be dispatched to provide residential services. Now the system has been streamlined again, but Davidson said the other clinics are still required by their contract to provide walk-in services even though they will no longer receive Specialized funding. Clinics must con tinue to operate at their current capacity but must fund the costs out o f their regular budgets. Davidson insists that CCMH will be in violation o f their contract if they divert new clients to the Cascadia Center at 43rd and Division. Becca Uherbelau, communications director for County Chair Dianne Linn, maintained that any diversion o f cli ents would be a violation but agreed that the contract language may be confusing. Scam Warning Hispanic Actors Perform True West Mark Espinoza, Rene Rivera and Ted Roisum star in Sam Shepherd's True West/EI Verdadero Oeste, now playing downtown through Nov. 1 7 at the Newmark Theater. The Portland Center Stage production features a mostly Hispanic cast under the direction o f Henry Godinez o f Chicago's Goodman Theatre. The play is a comic re-telling o f the Cain and Abel myth where Eden is a 70s era suburban kitchen 4 0 miles east o f Los Angeles. For ticket information, call 503-274-6588. (AP) — A con artist has been visiting Spanish speakers in the Portland area and offering English classes at a library or community college for a small fee. When people show up for the classes, they learn they have been fooled. Police think at least 43 people have lost more than $850 - and fear the numbers are much larger. The man has charged $20 for the nonexistent classes. The relatively small sum can prompt victims to skip the hassle o f reporting the crime. It also makes detectives think it is not worth their time to investi gate, police said. Witnesses have given similar descriptions o f the man, who has g iv e n th e n am es o f A rtu ro , Armando and Pedro Gonzales to his victims, police said. Generally, the con man is de scribed as in his 30s, about 5-foot- 10 and 170 pounds, police said. In most cases, he asks the per son to fill out aone-page form when he takes their money. Pol ice suspect the cons are com mitted by the same person or group ofpeople, said Lt. Michael Rouches ofthe Hillsboro Police Department. The Center for Community Mental Health. M ark W a s h in g t o n / T he P ortland O bserver photo by The contract reads, ‘Contractor is required to include a no ap pointment necessary option for new clients and the c o n tra c to r must also make avail able no appointment necessary for urgent care services for the c o n tra c to r’s au th o rized clients, however nothing w ithin this agreem ent prevents the contractor from —Joe Hromco, director of providing urgent ser clinical operations for vices to unauthorized Tualatin Valley Centers ___________________ clients.’ ‘ “So the only differ ence is there is no funding stream,” Uherbelau said. Officials at Tualatin Valley Centers, the private non profit providerwho acquired CCMH in March ofthisyear, disagree with the county on the contract language. And they are curious as to why the county would fund Cascadia’s center at 43rd and Division to provide 24-hour services and sti II require other providers to offer crisis care without any funding. “The way the funding is set up and the contract is worded, we have a responsibility to our clients when they are in crisis,” said Joe Hromco, director ofclinical opera tions for Tualatin Valley Centers. “But people who are not our clients are not our responsibility and we are supposed to send them to the southeast center. By doing this we lose our community connection and what was a walk-in clinic becomes a bus-to clinic.” Mary M onnat, CEO for Tualatin V alley C enters said she w ould do w hatever she can to keep her clinics in com pliance w ith the county contract. But she has her concerns with the new design configuration. C ascadia com petes with T ualatin V alley C enters and M onnat w onders how patients will be assigned to outpatient treatm ent after their release from the C ascadia. W ill crisis casew orkers refer clients to C ascadia clinics or w ill they d istrib u te them even ly am o n g st o th er providers? Marc Schorr, directorofcom m unications forCascadia, said in his nine-years o f clinical experience he has never seen any shortage o f clients. He said Cascadia already handles 80 percent o f all Oregon Health Plan clients and he would be glad to personally take down the names o f any other providers who would be interested in receiving referrals from the crisis center. “Public mental health care is not like private practice,” Schorr said. “ For us it’s more about getting out resources than hogging clients.” At the heart o f the m atter, M onnat said her main concern is for the people o f the north and northeast neighborhoods w ho have com e to depend on CCM H for its services. She w orries that instead o f going to 4 3 ,d and Division, they may go to Legacy Emanuel Hospital instead. M onnat has plans to hire an em ployee to do outreach for CCM H. Ifthe clinic m ust turn people aw ay when they arc in crisis, she hopes the outreach p ro gram will get them hooked into services before a crisis occurs. And if there is an em ergency situation, M onnat hopes people will get to 43"* and D ivision. “The county says they will provide bus tickets and transportation vouchers.” Monnat said. “But the ques tion remains, will they travel? We hope they w ill. W e’re all in it together. We just want to make sure nobody slips through the cracks." I — . " . . V By doing this workaholic we lose our community connection and what was a walk- in clinic becomes a bus-to clinic. OLAY total effects M ore than a quick fix today. Total Effects w orks ovet time, 24/7. better than leading ttepartnient store brands.' Also bahts sev en signs e»t aam a ino lines and wrinkles aqé spots •evt. " J / T OLAY love the skin you're in 1
