CENTER UPDATE

Monthly Newsletter for The Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties

Edition: March 2009

BUDGET CUTS AND SERVICE CHANGES

As a result of an expected shortfall in state support, the Mental Health and Recovery Board (MHRB) has reduced its financial support for the Counseling Center’s services.  The resulting cut is the largest one-time reduction in budgetary support ever experienced by the Center and will result in a significant reduction in both service capacity and staff.

To adjust to this reduced financial support, the Counseling Center has announced the closing of three key service programs by the end of the current month.  Programs and services that will be ending include Social/Recreational Services, Partial Hospitalization Services and Employment Services.

The Social/Recreational Service provides approximately 110 persons with severe and persistent mental illness with access to supervised activities and social outlets in a safe and therapeutic setting.

The Partial Hospitalization program also serves over 100 persons per year. Participants are individuals who need less than 24-hour inpatient care but whose needs cannot be addressed through more limited outpatient services.  Ironically, the Partial Hospitalization program was just awarded

a 2008 Best Practices in Customer Satisfaction Award from the Mental Health Corporation of America.

The Employment program focuses on assisting persons whose mental illness presents a barrier to successful employment.  In the most recent fiscal year, the program served 188 different persons, worked with over 200 different local employers and assisted clients in achieving successful employment in positions ranging from food preparation to teaching. While the program had an admirable record of helping disabled adults become tax paying citizens, the current job market made it increasingly difficult to quickly place clients in employment settings and revenue was not covering expenses.

As a result of these program closures, the Center has laid off 17 full or part-time staff including:  3.5 social workers, 3 job coaches, 2 part-time rehabilitation aides, 2 program managers, 3 part-time drivers, one secretary, and two part-time family support aides.

All program clients were notified in writing of the changes and staff are working diligently to assist all clients in dealing with the program closures.