STATE TO AID HEALTH PROGRAM; COUNTY'S ABILITY TO RE-ESTABLISH SYSTEM QUESTIONED.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

Ventura County's Behavioral Health Department has been given an opportunity to salvage its once model program as state officials pledge support and resources following their harsh audit of county operations.

State Department of Mental Health Director Dr. Stephen Mayberg, who authored the critical June 1 report, said it's up to the county to determine how to improve the system his investigators found had deteriorated.

``We chose not to argue. It doesn't make sense to say who is wrong and who is right,'' Mayberg said.

Instead, Mayberg will provide staff members and training to help in rebuilding the county's beleaguered Systems of Care program, an integrated approach pioneered by Ventura County in 1984 that offers health care and social services and is now used statewide.

``We don't expect county officials to be able to fix the system themselves,'' Mayberg said. ``We have to help them develop a blueprint. We can help with the training of the staff and make sure everyone is current.''

The clean slate came this week following a meeting with state and county officials, including the new Behavioral Health Department Director Dr. David Gudeman, and was seen as an opportunity to move away from blame and fix the problems.

It was welcomed by county officials and mental health activists following the plight of the troubled department where top officials have been ousted in recent months and various investigations have been launched.

Susan Kelly, a member of the county's mental health board, an advisory group to the Behavioral Health Department that opposed Gudeman's appointment, said it was Gudeman's actions that allowed the county to be given a clean slate.

``It was a gift from Mayberg, and it means that Dr. Gudeman showed some degree of willingness to bring the department back up to where it once was,'' said Kelly, an administrator at a private behavioral health clinic and sister of a schizophrenic man. ``It doesn't do anyone, especially the client, any good to keep rehashing things. Dr. Gudeman says he's committed to Systems of Care, and it behooves us all to believe it to be so.''

However, others remained skeptical.

State Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley, has been one of the county's harshest critics and said it's a shame that the county needs help from the state to repair the system it once built from the ground up.

Wright said Friday that she won't cut county officials any slack until she sees the Systems of Care program back on its feet.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on a resolution stating its commitment to Systems of Care. As part of the recommendations in the audit, the board must tell the state in writing by July 1 whether it wants to maintain its Systems of Care programs.

State auditors earlier this month blasted the county programs with various concerns - they said top administrators lacked the experience and knowledge needed to oversee the integrated Systems of Care program, questioned financial practices and took the county to task over unnecessary hospitalizations of mentally ill patients.

Mayberg recommends that before the county actually delves into the work of fixing its programs, it first rejuvenate the Mental Health Department.

``Systems of Care is clearly an adjunct to the mental health program,'' Mayberg said. ``Ventura needs to decide what to do with its basic mental health program and then decide how to supplement it. They need to figure out what they want in their mental health department - whether they have Systems of Care or not.''

Gudeman, who had disputed certain findings in the audit, has already taken some steps that he feels will improve his department.

He hired a housing consultant who will come up with a five-year plan of how to house people with mental illnesses, and he requested that $5 million be set aside in next year's budget for a range of behavioral health services, including housing needs, additional staff members in various children's programs, 24-hour emergency psychiatric services, enhancement of the psychiatric consultation and other programs, and an additional 30 beds to treat more people with addictions.

But he doesn't have specifics on any long-range plans, saying it's still too early to tell.

Although Gudeman has a constant critic in Wright, his biggest fans are members of the activist group the Alliance for the Mentally Ill who believe the new director has what it takes to run the department.

Ed Nani, president of that group, said he has tremendous faith in Gudeman and doesn't think additional help from the state will be necessary.

``We have good people, and I don't think we need anyone to come here and butt in,'' said Nani, the father of a 33-year-old man with schizophrenia. ``We have Dr. Gudeman, and he's working on housing and the budget. He's going full guns, and he's moving forward. I don't think we need any interference from the state.''

Others, like Supervisor Judy Mikels said they were looking forward to moving ahead to mend the county programs.

She said it's a huge relief that county officials can now let go of mistakes made in the past and move forward to create a plan to solve them.