Debbie Crane highlights how DHHS & Governor's office can SIMPLY IGNORE ANY AND ALL OF YOUR CONCERNS

DEBBIE CRANE HIGHLIGHTS HOW DHHS / GOVERNOR'S OFFICE NEED NOT RESPOND

I cannot submit e mail to Dempsey Benton, Secretary of NC DHHS; Leza Wainwright, Co-Director of NC DHHS's Mental Health Department; or, Mike Lancaster, MD, Co-director of NC DHHS's Mental Health Department.

Neither can I submit one to the main e mail address of the State CFAC (Consumers and Family Advisory Committee: by law, the state must create their functionality).

And, it appears, I can submit concerns night and day to the various LME CFAC committees for all that's worth : I never get a replyl from any of them either.

What, you might ask, did I do in order to be blocked from sending them e mail? Why is there never a response to any of my letters? Why no returned telephone calls?

I have never slandered them; I have never been rude.

I have been extremely vocal in voicing my complaints about how they have failed----with all the details that a provider in-the-trenches----can provide.

I have never received a reply though I have US mailed, telephoned, and e mailed members of the State CFAC committee as well as the local CFAC of Smoky Mountain Center LME in western NC.

NADA No reply nothing
Absolutely no indication that anything has been taken into account,
entertained as a possible solution, or simply dealt with.

The only person in mental health associated with NC DHHS who has EVER responded to me was Mike Moseley, the Director of Mental Health, who just 'retired.'

If, as Ms. Crane states, there is no archiving of e mails, if the governor simply tosses the letters, if government officials are not supposed to create solutions via correspondence w/ concerned citizens----then WHY should we pay their salaries?

If I am not available to my mentally challenged clients, my license is at risk.

How is it that public officials in NC can whistle past every single letter/ e mail/ phone call/ fax?

Marsha V. Hammond, PhD : Clinical Psychologist, Asheville, NC

*************************associated story:

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/health_11660___article.html/state_mental.html

State spokeswoman fired in mental health flap speaks out on public records

".......There should be a clear policy regarding e-mail, something already spelled out in state statutes for anybody with "common sense."

She said public officials should archive e-mails.

Crane said e-mails are public documents no matter what system a government official is using.

There is a feeling among government employees, she said, that personal e-mail carriers are immune from public records laws. "If it's public business it's a public record whether you're using Gmail, Roadrunner or Hotmail," she said.

Other changes she suggested include:

- Making a public records contact person easy to find.

- Changing forms state agencies use so private information can be more easily gleaned from the public. This would speed up the process for receiving documents, Crane said.

- Requiring that those who request a public record get an immediate response that includes an estimate of how long it will take to get the records...."