Hooker-Odom sends destructive mixed signals to the public & gullible press : WHERE'S MY COPY OF HOOKER ODOM'S AUDIT??

Upon the release of George Tenet's book on his years at the CIA, CIA employees have this comment: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/21888

"You helped send very mixed signals to the American people and their legislators in the fall of 2002."

I don't know if there is anything as debilitating to the public as this phenomenon of 'mixed signals.' It leaves the public in the place of figuring everyone is somehow to blame, in some way, when, in fact, if you 'follow the money'---or, in this case----'follow the mixed signals'----you will come upon a perpetrator or set of perpetrators----in this case Tenet and Bush----each trying to prop the other up.

Carmen Hooker Odom, with Mike Mosley by her side as director of Mental Health, has mastered the 'confusing signals' scent-thrower maneuver. And most every journalist takes the hook. The public reads the articles put out by the NC press and concludes that while Hooker-Odom may be an idiot administrator, the Community Support (CS) providers have attempted to game the CS lynchpin service.

This is not true.

First , the LME money is sitting there, unspent, meant to be applied to assisting consumers/clients ("However, a substantial amount of the money that has been sent to the LMEs -- approximately $93 million -- will not be spent this year." http://www.newsobserver.com/681/story/568491.html

Why isn't any reporter asking about THAT? Isn't it a little suspicious that there is this pool of money that is untouched? Three theories come to mind for me: 1. the Easley administration wants mental health reform to fail 2. Easley doesn't pay any attention to mental health reform and it crashes under Hooker Odom 3. there is such a mishandling that the 'left hand' of the LME's cannot get into sync with the 'right hand' of DHHS.

Secondly, the Service Definition of CS does not specify that CS workers can't 'take little Joey swimming', when swimming is skill building at various levels. NC Policy Watch overviews this : "Advocate David Cornwall, head of the group N.C Mental Hope, points out that Hooker Odom’s anecdotes border on offensive. The state definition of community support services includes services like taking children swimming or to see friends and that those are exactly the kinds of activities that are so important in the lives of children with mental illness." http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/servicedefinitions/servicedefinitions2-22-06update.pdf

Thirdly, Hooker Odom's staff taught CS providers and their workers how they were supposed to keep notes and they did not say anything about being specific to the degree that would have derailed an audit. (see page 6 for documentation requirements) http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/servicedefinitions/servdefupdates/CS%20childadolesendorsementinstructions4-5-07.pdf

"....Raymond Turpin, president of Jackson County Psychological Services, said he took the required training, but it consisted of two days of talking about delivering services to substance abusers, and his agency serves children with mental illness. “What training we got was purely philosophical,” he said. “There was no practical information. ... I just wish somebody would step in and stop these destructive decisions.” http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770411177


Fourthly, 'The Department' complained that 'high school graduates' which were 'unintended' were being used as paraprofessionals to do the hands-on CS work. Not only was there nothing in the Community Support Service Definitions that stated that they could not, but "The Department" 's response made it even more probable that this would happen: 'Even if the $52 rate is sufficient for some, it may not be sufficient for others - especially those who hire large numbers of well-educated, experienced workers with high salaries.' http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350971886&path=%21localnews&s=1037645509099

This is Rove strategy fully incorporated by Easley Dem administration under Hooker Odom: don't tell them what they can't do but set it up so they cannot do what they are contracted to do.
Corollary: tell the LME's that they are supposed to be administering mental health reform money and make the DHHS memos so vague that its not clear what is desired; gig the Endorsed Providers providing CS, who then complain to the LME's, who are left holding the bag of failed mental health reform, thus destroying their credibilty.

For the most part, except for Chris Fitzsimmons at NC Policy Watch, the online and papers journalists are merely scribes and they seem satisfied to give us disjointed pieces with the public writing Op-Ed rebuttals. they don't do the background work which is associated with looking at the documents put out by DHHS. The citizens who do the work need to be the journalists who weild the weight of the published pen.

This is, in my opinion, yet another misleading article related to these 'bad apples' CS providers (from NC Mental Hope's writer, David Cornwall): "Jane Ferguson, the CEO of Appalachian Counseling, wrote in a guest column Thursday that the agencies that were billing incorrectly represented only about 16 percent of the state's more than 1,000 providers. ....Instead, the state chose to punish everybody for the sins of the few. Although this week's new rate may ease the pain some, it still punishes the entire system instead of just the wrong-doers. " http://mentalhopenews.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-rate-doesnt-go-far-enough.html

Repeat it, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it....until it is believed:

Bad apples: "....Easley : … We’re finding a lot of them are gaming the system — those are her words. My words are ripping off the taxpayers..." http://carolinamountains.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770420130

Bad apples: "...The state, responding to what it says is widespread misuse of community-support services, also said yesterday that it is tightening the rules for how those services are provided and reviewed..." http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350971886&path=%21localnews&s=1037645509099

Bad apples: ""That reduction was made based on the best available data we had at the time, which showed that those 167 providers were billing for services that were almost totally provided by people with high school degrees or less," Hooker Odom said. http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070427/NEWS/704270348&SearchID=7327979535264

Bad apples: "..1) the possibility that unscrupulous providers would abuse the system by using unqualified individuals to deliver services;\..." http://www.newsobserver.com/681/story/568484.html

Bad apples: "Audit: Mental health providers cheatDHHS says some companies billed the state for suspect services or none at all. Gov. Easley wants an investigation" http://www.newsobserver.com/150/story/566059.html

Bad apples: "Secretary Hooker Odom was quoted in the Raleigh News and Observer as saying, "The results of (our) clinical audit were deeply disturbing. We are concerned that the problem may not be limited to just those 167 providers." She has also put in a request to the Attorney General’s Office to expedite the suspected cases of fraud and abuse found in the first audit. It is understood that Governor Easley is supporting the Secretary’s decision and believes that fraud and abuse in the mental health system is a serious issue. .." North Carolina Council Community News, April 30, 2007

Bad apples: Eureka C. Daye of Behavioral Health Link; NC Council Community News, April 30, 2007: "I also believe that there are those providers who are skimming merely for profit."

Bad apples: Audit of 167 companies finds "many examples" of abuse (PDF)
http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/566059.html (half way down the URL)

Bad apples: "...Jane Ferguson, the CEO of Appalachian Counseling, wrote in a guestcolumn Thursday that the agencies that were billing incorrectlyrepresented only about 16 percent of the state's more than 1,000providers."Those providers could have been put on a corrective action plan orprobation or both," she wrote, echoing exactly what we said in thisspace April 13..."http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070429/NEWS/704290355&SearchID=73279778992413

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from Bill Moyer's recent PBS special: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/transcript1.html
"BOB SIMON: Just repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. Repeat Al Qaeda, Iraq. Al Qaeda, Iraq. Al Qaeda, Iraq. Just keep it going. Keep that drum beat going.
And it was effective because long after it was well established that there was no link between Al Qaeda and the government of Iraq and the Saddam regime, the polls showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans believed that Al Qaeda-- that Iraq was responsible for September 11th. ..."
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THERE ARE NO SINS OF THE FEW. Yes, all professions have incompetents in them; mental health is NO different. However, there is a distinct smell associated with unwittingly tripping-up the public's understanding of what is taking place here by assigning a bigger stink here. Skipping over the mixed signals trash talk will take you straight to Hooker Odom and her mismanagement of mental health reform.

I challenge the news services to do more than be mere scribes. If there are 'bad apples' then please pay attention to the background information, namely, the Community Support Service Definitions (yes, you have to dig and look at that) that allowed the use of high school paraprofessionals and also pay attention to the poor training that DHHS provided as associated with record keeping.

Journalist David Halberstam stated : "You have to keep digging...keep asking questions, because otherwise you'll be seduced or brainwashed into the idea that it's somehow a great privilege, an honor, to report the lies they've been feeding you." Working the Truth Beat By BOB HERBERT Published: April 30, 2007