Connecting Point Will Not close Friday, 300 will be out of work – UPDATED
This in from WTOL:
TOLEDO (WTOL) – Connecting Point, a drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation organization that runs group homes and satellite offices around northwest Ohio, will cease all operations effective Friday, Jan. 16, News 11 has learned.
Lucas County Administrator Mike Beazley told us Thursday morning that the county was notified early Thursday morning of the decision.
The decision will affect more than 300 workers and several thousand patients. The Source will provide workplace retraining.
This was sent out in response:
Connecting Point, an agency funded by the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (MHRSB) of Lucas County, will not cease operations andclose its doors tomorrow as reported today by a local media outlet. Client services are continuing as usual at the agency until further notice.
Connecting Point does plan eventually to cease operations; however, an effective date has not yet been announced. The Agency is preparing a transition plan, which will be made public within a few days. All Connecting Point clients will be notified of the plan and options for choosing a new provider of services.
According to Connecting Point Interim Director Delores Williams, “We are reassuring clients that services will continue in the short term. Our agency will work with each client to coordinate the transition of their services to a new provider.”
Clients may call their counselors with questions regarding services or contact Matt Rizzo, Director of Treatment Services for Connecting Point at 419-243-6326.
MHRSB Executive Director Jacqueline Martin said, “The health of Lucas County children and families is foremost in the Board’s planning. We are prepared to oversee the transfer process to ensure the smoothest transition possible for clients.”
In the event a child, adolescent or adult experiences a behavioral health crisis, he or she is urged immediately to contact Rescue Mental Health Services at 419-255-9585.
For more information, please contact Connecting Point at 419-243-6326 or the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County at 419-213-4600 or visit www.co.lucas.oh.us/MHRSB.
Huh????? This is awfully sudden to be ceasing operation and did Connecting Point see this coming months ago where revenue was declining or did a certain funding source didn’t come through? Or did someone inflated the budget report where it reflected “fuzzy” numbers?
It is unbelievable that something like this happen so sudden without transition of some sort especially for a non-profit organization that is affliated with a lot of county agencies and United Way programs.
Something’s fishy here.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:37 pmAgreed on the fishiness, and I empathize with the 300 employees and thousands of patients whose lives have been disrupted by this mess. Moreover, Connecting Point works (or should I say “worked”
with some of the most marginalized people in the community.
Depressing news (pun unintended).
January 15th, 2009 at 2:38 pmFrom what I hear, this is something that has been happening since July. They did know it was coming and it was going to either be a soft landing or a major crash. They have slowly been letting people go and are transitioning cases to various other services, such as Harbor and Unison. It is truly a shame as they did great things for our community, especially our at-risk youth, and now their almost 2,000 cases will have go go elsewhere.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:20 pmWTOL updated the story and changed some of the numbers without offering any kind of a correction as to the previous ones, I really hate it when the media does that, if they reported something in error they should acknowledge it not just try to make it “disappear”:
January 15th, 2009 at 10:46 pmDoes anyone know when and why Jeff Deckebach the previous CEO left?
January 15th, 2009 at 10:50 pmGood question Corky, there does not appear to be any type of release as to when or why Jeff Deckenbach is no longer the CEO.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:55 pmLisaRenee wrote:
ITA Lisa and the media need to stop their constant obsession of using the “Breaking News” or “Developing News” with sirens, whistles and bells as they give out incomplete, misleading half-truth news stories. What is wrong with completing the story with all the sides covered, facts checked, references checked, and complete coverage before introducing to the general public?
January 16th, 2009 at 8:07 amLisaRenee wrote:
So who’s going to “dig” deeper into this story? There has to be more to the story of what is being said of this sudden halting and ceasing operation of Connecting Points because something does not add up. Fuzzy numbers? Embezzlements? Shocking Affairs? Mysterious connection to the great Mr. Tom Noe?
January 16th, 2009 at 8:12 amHere is the thing. The majority of the clients who access behavioral healthcare at an agency like Connecting Point (or Unison, Zepf, etc.) are Medicaid recipients. Medicaid pays 62% of the rate that CP charges and then if the agency has a contract with the Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Board (which they do) then they pay the other 38%.
Medicaid is still paying for these services and CP still has clients so what happened to the money? Did they not appropriately bill Medicaid? Did they not appropriately bill the Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Board?
I’m not saying that there is a conspiracy here, but I suspect longstanding incompetence.
Sad really. The other mental health agencies in the area will be hard pressed to absorb these clients quickly into their caseloads.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:34 amThat’s very true and raises questions either as to billing or to spending. It’s clear there is a need and there is a client base.
I also agree with you that the other agencies are going to be hard pressed to absorb these clients, there was already a lack of services especially related to the initial appointment/screening at times for some people I know during this past year.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:45 amI suspect a billing issue. And if it is a billing issue then that is a reflection of longstanding mismanagement and incompetence. (IMHO)
January 16th, 2009 at 11:16 amAs someone with extensive experience navigating the local mental health system in my work as a foster parent, I could not agree more with the assessments by corky and Lisa. There are already far too few pediatric psychiatrists and counselors, and my experience has been that many are booking 90-120 days ahead for new patients.
If they even take them as new patients.
In addition, area services for drug addicition and alcoholism are also under-funded and insufficient to meet the local population, so it is not a stretch to say that the situation for managing local addiction problems just took a turn for the worse.
The closing of Connecting Point simply means that the already-poor level of services just got a lot worse. Sure, other agencies will “absorb” the clients from CP, but what about those folks who might now have to travel across town, or who fall between the bureaucratic cracks? This is a nightmare unfolding, and all the best intentions in the world are not going to keep this from increasing the problems in the area.
Not to sound the doom-and-gloom scenarios, but just imagine even a handful more schizophrenics or heroin addicts roaming around the city without access to needed services. You think we have crime problems now? Just wait until some of these folks lose contact with CP caseworkers and professionals, or when CP is no longer there to handle emergency situations for people in crisis.
And don’t get me going on the human costs associated with an increase in the number of people receiving mental health and addiction services.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:22 pmMike,
The people who lose are the clients and the employees some of whom have been with this agency for decades.
If it is a billing issue then this is another example of incompetence at the top causing harm to those beneath them.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:28 pmcorky wrote:
Jeff was the major reason why this agency did a slow burn for many years. He hoped to bail his agency out by a merger with Zepf where he intended to become the ED. He took it to the limit when he did not tell them weeks before that there would be no funding and humiliated alot of significant movers and shakers in the mental health community. There has been an ongoing history or shady accounting and the failure to report many mandated things. There is also the question of billing for services by non qualified personnel. One should also know that since Gary Tester lost his position with ODADAS that Jeff lost alot of the support that kept this financial crisis from coming to light. I hope Jeff is thinking about his potential prosecution for what happened here.
January 21st, 2009 at 4:03 pmWord is that there may be a last ditch effort to bring back this sinking ship. But one has to wonder how long it will last?
January 21st, 2009 at 4:30 pmI work for CP and heard that this blog was out there,didn’t even know what a blog is. Old school! I see a lot of talk & speculation but I do not see anyone willing to step up and lend a hand in any way. Mostly criticism.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:10 pmCorky however does give the line staff some kudos and I thank him for that. We work hard and want the best for our mentally ill clients.
Seems like you bloggers want to talk about how incompetent the agency is/was and al the mismanaged issues; come give us a hand. All this wonderful insight here maybe you could do something positive along with us rather than judge and make negative comments.
Regarding Jeff, yes I believe he mismanaged but he did not steal from this agency. But, if you know something we don’t, please be my guest…pursue it. In the meantime how about coming out and supporting us in some way; rally the community around us. Please don’t make judgement. I love this job and have been with it many years, our clients need continuity of care.
wonderment –
What kinds of things do you think that community can do?
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:26 pmI don’t see anyone’s post is being negative except but by commenting of how sudden this is and trying to make sense of it since there was really not much details to go on. Anyway……
By doing something positive, can I show CP how to balance their budget and control its expenditures? Perhaps long-term financial forecast and planning would be needed as well? Or change the business model drastically?
I’m sure all the employees are great and a true asset to their clients but raising taxes or rallying the community for more money is not going to solve the problem. Also I believe it’s not fair to the dedicated, trained employees who provide the quality care for the clients without some sort of hard fiscal discipline within the organization because somewhere there has to be a common ground in all of this. Perhaps trimming the fat is not necessarily a bad way to go especially in this current economy.
IMHO, I would rather change in order to survive than not to change which resulting to close the facility or facilities. With no change, it really defeats the purpose of the true mission statement. The clients are the ultimate losers in this sad situation.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:50 pmWhen wonderment is asking for the community to rally I don’t think that she is asking for a tax increase. But I’m not sure about what the community can do.
Typically, employees who deal with clients are very removed from the financial aspects of operating these organizations. Despite requirements for advanced degrees and ongoing continuing education, they are also very underpaid.
However, if you go further up the food chain the salary increases like crazy. These are the people who are running the day to day operations. If these people are not effectively doing their jobs then it doesn’t matter what the lower level employees do or how many clients they see they would be swimming upstream.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 pmSome efforts to save the agency . . .
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090123/NEWS04/901230336
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:11 pmcorky wrote:
Corky,
Connecting Point had a long history of billing for services that were not provided or in most cases provided by unqualified personnel billing them under different names and licensed qualifications which they did not have.
This was an agency that many people had their eyes on since the departure of Juanita Price and the rise of Jeff to ED/CEO position. First of all what in the world is a nonprofit in Toledo doing giving out positions/titles such as Vice President? CP had no national presence and really had not sincere intent of such. Secondly why did they need so many of them?
Don’t let the board members off either. Suposedly when you have a board of directors they are the ones that oversee the work and direction that the ED/CEO does and gives.
Unfortunately the board of CP never had any concept of strategic planning, which is the primary duty of leadership. They obviously had no concept of corporate governance and oversight either. This is proven by the green light and ramrod leadership style of Jeff D. who was notorious for making multiple conflictual statements on anything and using others as cover.
Now granted there are alot of people out there that will need services within the community since the demise of CP. However there are enough agencies and resources available out there to cover this throughout the other remaining agencies in the area.
And honestly, CP did not do such a great job with their services – they were too busy having fund raisers in an effort to make the agency a pet project of Junior League types who have nothing better to do with their time.
And speaking of others with nothing better to do with their time one should be asking these “board members” what they were doing when they heard the news that the CP merger with Zeph wasn’t going to happen. I can pretty much tell you that the sizable majority of them were at the scheduled press conference to announce the merger of CP and Zeph which suddenly did not happen since no bank in their right mind was going to front the money to do that – Jeff was told by the bank a few weeks earlier by the way and he kinda sorta forgot about it until he was reminded the day of the press conference when everybody stood around with egg on their faces.
This agency’s story is a perfect example of fraud and misappropriation. And don’t think that other agencies in the area have not been raped and sucked dry- they have been – it is Jackie Martin that does not want you to know that just the real truth would infuriate the tax payer. Why would any group or organization want to continue the operation of CP when this practice was so pervasive, so obvious – to so many and so fundamentally unsound to continue.
The community needs to rally around the kids that the agency “served” not the employees or agency who “served” these kids.
The community also needs to hold accountable the mental health board since they are taking so many of our tax dollars and disbursing them without discretion. Ms. Martin needs to resign her position as director, Tina Wozniak, Pete Gerken and Ben Konop need to stop showing up to ribbon cutting ceremonies and hold these appointees accountable.
Funny thing – Is Ben Konop still on the board of directors of CP?
January 25th, 2009 at 2:31 amLisaRenee wrote:
Good point LisaRenee. I can tell you for certain that Jeff did not resign, and he was not asked to resign by the board. He was escorted from the property. His unemployment status was just as much a surprise to him as it was to others. You only end up leaving that way for certain reasons most of which are covered under the area of unemployment or criminal law.
January 25th, 2009 at 2:46 amBill –
Sounds like you’ve got more information than I do. Wow. It is so sad really . . . . because the people who get hurt are the clients.
I’m not saying that people should rally around the employees. They should rally around the clients. More important, the community needs to know about the crap at the top.
January 25th, 2009 at 9:29 amCorky,
When I made reference of rallying around the agency or the employees, it came from another individual who wrote a responsee to you regarding their employment with CP. I do not want you to infer that I intended to correct you on something that you had not said.
I know how shocking it is for someone at the loss of employment due to another’s faults in leadership. I also know all too well what happens when one is placed in a position of leadership and shuts off communication with everyone around them.
Jeff was being groomed for the leadership of CP when he arrived there from CSB quite a few years ago. He was unassuming and seemed harmless enough when he worked his way through the ranks. Although the higher up he got the more he forgot where he came from and where it was he was going. A common theme in these circumstances.
Now it may seem that I have singled Jeff out for the blame in this matter. I am not doing that to the extent of being personal. I just want everyone out there to have a good understanding of the factors that allowed such a train wreck like this one to occur.
When Jeff took the helm at CP he immediately began to make square peg decisions about round holes. He began to appoint Vice President positions to people who effectively had no experience in senior leadership or strategic planning.
One individual who was the most qualified for a position like that was completely ignored for such a spot. No, it was not me nor anyone related to me by blood, marriage or friendship.
The appointments that Jeff made were puzzling to many(who knew better) due to the lack of solid skill or experience within his appointees.
Now that Jeff had his appointees in place he was free to build alliances within the system on his own time and on his own terms.
If you look at the 990’s for the agency there is alot that does not make sense. Why for fiscal year 2007 did you file your return almost a year later. And why on earth did you pay an accounting firm $110,000.00 for services and then pay the law firm of Marshall and Melhorn over &70,000.00 for legal services???? Odd enough it goes on and on and on. Late filings year after year, inconsistancy year after year. It is a pattern that has been ongoiing right in front of our eyes.
One would think that the leadership as well as the legal counsel for the mental health board would have been raising eyebrows and making calls to CP leadership, yet they did nothing. They did nothing because they knew what was going on and they did not care what was going on.
CP and Jeff are just the tip of the iceberg. If you really want to know what’s going on with the tax dollars and “community mental health” let me know, it’s not a pretty picture. But others are out there ready to pounce and exploit the opportunity.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:02 amhey bill – I’d like to talk to you. Sounds like you have a heavy burden. Send me an email at kate.boyd@rocketmail.com. It’s a blind email address, but I’ll look for you. Just put your name in the subject line.
Sometimes the bad guys do lose
January 26th, 2009 at 2:16 ambill –
Incompetent leaders also don’t like those who challenge their failings even if it is by offering them better ways of doing things. They get comfortable in crisis and chaos.
You wrote about billing for services not provided. I remember working at a substance abuse agency that billed under homeless services if the adult children were living with a parent. These clients weren’t homeless, but they were a means to an end — a way to get money out of the system.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:58 amCP was already in trouble when Junita Price was in charge. Jeff inherited the problems, and I don’t know to what extent he added to them. What I do know is that current management refuses to honor the union contract. After the board told CP that it would close, the staff, including the psychiatrists have been finding new employment. One week after announcing CP would close, the mental health board said it would try to find financing to keep CP open until it could “restructure and re-organize.”
January 27th, 2009 at 11:10 pmWhat the community should realize is that CP staff are currently working without a guarantee of any pay or health insurance.
Employees “knew” that CP was in danger of closing since last summer, but management consistently denied that was true. As late as the holidays, management said “CP is not closing.”
Employees can not obtain health insurance from a private source compliant with HIPPA until they are laid off. Medical Mutual, the current insurer will not continue to provide employees with private insurance unless they have no health problems, and MedMu does not provide HIPPA compliant private plans. CP has refused to lay off, but said it may not provide health insurance benefits after January. So, remaining employees are basically stuck.
If CP closes staff are not eligible for COBRA.
I’m not a CP employee, but am married to one. CP has provided mental health and substance abuse services to the children and teens who have enormous challenges. These professionals and their families deserve all the support they can get right now. This mess is NOT their fault.
January 27th, 2009 at 11:23 pmThere is a ripple effect to incompetence and mismanagement. First of all, Clients are not served and Secondly, employees some of whom have families are not treated fairly for the work they do.
January 28th, 2009 at 1:04 pmI AM A PROUD employee of Connecting Point, I provide services to these children that are the highest at risk and the most severely ill. I have not been paid but I have to continue to work and provide services to my clients because this is the field and the work I CHOOSE. These children have no one else and the majority of these children have parents whom suffer from mental illness themselves or have been abused physically, emotionally, sexually and verbally from parents, relatives and yes even the foster care system. WE provide the most unique services that are called “street level counseling”. This dedicated team of counselors, case managers and yes even some of the low level managers CARE SO MUCH for these kids it breaks our hearts.
A lot of these employees are torn between to provide for their own children and families and their clients. I won’t lie but I also have been looking for employment, but the other agencies have taken advantage of this crisis by offering lower wages, less incentives and benefits to the already frustrated workers. I keep working and so do many others because we have a love for these children and an ethical commitment to them. NO other agency in the Northwest Ohio Area is capable of handling these types of clients. We have already experienced this through interviews of employment and discussions.
Yes, I believe the mismanagement was long term, too many expenses in salaries and etc…But remember the majority of these clients are on Medicaid and Medicaid reimbursement rates have not changed in 20 years. Prices for services, living costs, utilities etc have risen, and reimbursement rates have not. CP is an example of a system that is broken and needs to be fixed not just in the short term but in the long run.
The truth of the mismanagement will come out but please support the staff that are there now helping these children and this community. IF Connecting Point closes, not only do the children lose out, but so does the economy of Northwest Ohio. We spend our money earned here in the community helping these kids with school supplies, food, and uniforms. We buy our breakfasts, lunches, dinners, gas and other items we need for our day in this community. Not only will the children lose out, so does the community.
All we are asking is for support, help, and understanding from the community that we the clinical staff, support staff and other employees in this agency care and are staying to keep this agency alive for the children and the community. Those that are part of this agency that have done wrong, hidden things from these employees, clients and the community in time and god willing will have to answer to a higher power someday if not soon. But please believe in us that are staying and continuing to work with no pay, are doing this for the love of these children because we care.
As to the comments of not clients not being served, yes they are, the individuals whom did improper billing were let go a long time ago and this was due to no educational training or orientation process. The staff that are there now are experienced, licensed, and those in case management have years of experience and are dedicated as we all are. We are committed to staying with Connecting Point, and serving these children of Toledo. I can say I am proud of my coworkers, whom I consider my family, friends, and professionals.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:11 pmCorky, could you explain or give examples of what you meant by “clients are not being served.”? To my knowledge, clients who keep their appointments ARE being served.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pmHope, well stated. You have expressed the heart and soul of most of the employees. They do care. They are professionals and they are doing the best they can under some tremendously stressful circumstances.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:30 pmThank you Willie,
It is hard to bear this burden everyday in the community and at home for all the employees of Connecting Point. From the first day I walked into this agency, it felt like home and the staff were like family. Any help from the community is appreciated. Some case managers and counselors whom work out in the public as home based providers and community based treatment providers are having difficulty with getting to these clients.
Any gifts of gas cards would be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible when contributed to a non-profit agency. Any help to keep this agency and community alive is appreciated. I know, I have a decision to make myself, I am a single parent with one income living check to check and have the decision to see if I have enough gas to get to work and back home. If I expend it to go see clients I will not have enough gas to get home. If we cant go provide services to clients and bill that puts a strain on the agency with no income.
But I know I will go in and if be ask my clients to come in to one of the offices to see them if possible. These are some of the decisions we clinicians face in these tough times. But we are still going to help them even if we have to ride the TARTA buses to get there if be or carpool. Clinicians were even out today in this weather as was I providing home services. We even work on holidays and in the middle of the night should our clients have the need or a crisis. We are that dedicated.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:01 pmWillie –
My apologies. I think that what I wrote was easy to misinterpret. I don’t mean that clients are getting services. I mean that there is a ripple effect to incompetence at the administrative level. Clients may be getting services in the short term, but this kind of upheaval in the agency certainly impacts them in that it is disruptive.
Hope –
You are doing a great thing. I used to work in community mental health in Lucas County. I found the employees who worked with clients to be extremely dedicated and hard-working — passionate about helping people with challenges. Unfortunately, I also found the organizations extremely poorly managed at an administrative level. So while what CP is going through is sad it is also not surprising.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:07 pmI think that everyone agrees that this is a major prolem in our community if we were to lose the services and people at CP.
Unfortunately, everyone within this “system” in one way or another has catered to the demands and unjustified concessions from mangement teams that cannot and will not do their job in being prudent public stewards of resources.
Every organization has problems, that’s why consultants continuously have employment. Unfortunately we are faced with serious questions to ask of our commissioners, mental health board and others, including ourselves, as to how something like this could continue for so long and have anyone surprised by the result.
How many mental health employees actually show up to any meeting of the Mental Health Board. I would assume not many. It’s someone else’s job or passion to do that.
If you remember the last crisis mental health professionals encountered was when the mental health trust was disolved. This was mostly due to the outrageous costs associated with the risk pool and other agencies did not want to pay for anothers bad health risks. It was a good argument at the time. However, over time agencies were shoving a new health care plan down the throats of their employees every year with significant cost increases everytime.
You have multiple unions representing several different agencies. Some are good and some are not so good and some are just worthless. With that in mind the mental health board is able to exploit this situation to their own advantage.
What needs to be accomplished here is simple. You need to band together – and that means every agency and every consumer available. And for all you naysayers out there just stay at home but here’s the reality – you just had two million people converge on DC to see one person take an oath of office. You are going to tell me that you can’t get the people who work in this system or utilize its services to march down to that office on Adams Street?
Everyone of you in the mental health system as well as anyone who cares about this community needs to call off work and march down there. You need to have so many people down there that it will be on the national news for days after. It’s about time that this community stood up for a change for what is right for everyone within it instead of waiting for some appointee or politician who favored the appointee to do something so fundamentally right and appropriate.
Electetd and appointed people will only do so much and unless you let them know in no uncertain terms they will continue to take a middle of the road stance. Why do you think the commissioners have said so little about this matter? These people work for you you should expect them to to do what’s right for you.
Everyone out there who has a job in mental health or is a consumer of their services should be picking the day to march down that street en-masse, parade permit or not, and demand the accountability that you are entitled to BY LAW!!!
January 29th, 2009 at 12:27 amNo big news on the rally of Connecting Point employees and Union reps who tried to enter The Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Board Services building this afternoon. I wonder what the media knows that employees and clients do not????
January 31st, 2009 at 2:12 amWho’s responsible for contacting the media and making sure it gets into the right hands?
January 31st, 2009 at 11:27 amI would have been there or at least made sure the information was out there if someone from the union or one of the employees would have told me.
The blog can help you get information out there, but not if you don’t tell anyone here about it.
January 31st, 2009 at 11:59 amFor those of you coming directly to this link, there is an updated story on the blog, here.
January 31st, 2009 at 2:03 pmLisaRenee wrote:
Another great opportunity wasted due to the foolishness of SEIU representatives. This could have been a major showing in order to get matters out in the open for greater discussion. Whoever thinks they can do this with the exclusive advice of SEIU is a fool. They are just as worthless as the board and mangement of CP. When you take into consideration how much you have paid this union per month and then you find out that they are as inept as the leadership of CP.
How many of you have talked to an attorney yet regarding a class action suit against CP, Mental Health Board and SEIU? Most likely again the answer is “none”. I’m actually surprised that any representative of SEIU even bothered to show. Bet that’s not gonna happen again or anytime soon since you’re not paying dues anymore.
Word to the wise: Get an attorney, at last check there are about three in Toledo that have an idea of how to practice law. Most likely you will have valid argument and standing in both federal and county venues. If SEIU was worth a crap they would have filed a federal suit by now.
Also interesting: About a dozen or more people (including SEIU reps and CP employees) showed. In other words less than 10 percent of the agency had the courage to show. Doesn’t seem like team work was ever a concept embraced by connecting point. What; the other hundred or so couldn’t show because they had to work their unpaid job?
If you want support from the community than ask for it. We are the tax payers pumping money into the Mental Health Board who in turn pumps it into the agency. The SEIU is just a collective of parasites just read the Gov. Balogavich (sp?) complaint if you want to know the truth about SEIU and your dues money.
LET THE COMMUNITY HELP YOU AND LET THEM KNOW WHEN YOU NEED SOMETHING!!!!! Otherwise don’t bother marching on the Mental Heatlh Board if you only have SEIU as your backup.
January 31st, 2009 at 11:20 pmI work at CP and was told about this blog so decided to check it out. Many ways I agree with a lot that is being said, however I am upset also with things being said. First the CLT’S they are so confused and in the land of not knowing what to do. Second, the workers are in the same position. I am very upset because not all works were aware of the event on Friday so could not be a part in it. This was not good communication on the union leaders part and or if only certain union works were told for whatever reason not wanting everyone there. Lack of communication in which everyone is complaining about. Not only has CP management had lack of communication with workers the union has also had lack of communication with each other.
February 1st, 2009 at 8:49 pmI’ve read this blog with a great deal of interest – the comments from the community, the “I used to be” or “I am currently” employee posts…there’s a lot of speculation, so far the employee posts seem to be incredibly supportive of CP, but I have yet to see a post that says “Hey, wanna hear the REAL story?!”
As a former 7 1/2 year employee, I happen to know a lot of the “real” story. I worked a year as an intern in the case management department, then, after finishing my coursework & licensure test I spent 6 1/2 years in the office based therapy department. I probably know most, if not all, of the people that have sent in the supportive posts.
Let me make a disclaimer before I dish…there are always going to be good folks, mediocre folks, and downright bad folks in any organization, and I mean no disrepect to you unless the story I tell is actually about you. If you recognize yourself, well, feel free to call me on it – the only reason I’m not including my name is I don’t know if I’m allowed to do that in a blog post.
1. Fiscal mismanagement ran rampant the entire time I was at CP. There was a time when CP couldn’t place help wanted ads because the bill for the Toledo Blade hadn’t been paid in so long. There were times we couldn’t get paper or toner for the copiers becuase the office supply company hadn’t been paid.
2. Grants were mismanged – one grant was for a program to treat Reactive Attachment Disorder. The Stranahan Foundation gave us a grant to pay for the initial training of 3 therapists and 1 manager, furnishings, office renovations, literature, and ongoing training for 2 of the 3 therapists. The 4 staff members were sent to Denver, Colorado for the training…unfortunately mismanagement of the grant funds stopped the program development cold. I was asked to fabricate (pretty word for lie) about the time I’d spent on “research” so the grant could be billed at my hourly salary…turns out the money had been spent & the Stranhan Foundation wanted a report. The good news is I refused to do it, the bad news is somebody else did it. By the way, all the research I’d done was accomplished BEFORE the grant application was ever written. (Shout out to SK for all his hard work getting that grant)
3. Health insurance – at one point the premiums weren’t paid for at least three months. How do I know? Well, I was the first person to call the carrier when my doctor’s bills started coming back unpaid. The person I spoke to at the carrier’s customer service department told me that the premiums hadn’t been paid. I told other staff, multiple managers were confronted – the premiums were caught up & a memo was circulated stating that there’d been a “miscommunication” on the carrier’s end.
4. Staff, services & Medicaid. I know personally of one case manager that was fired when it was discovered that he’d been forging his billing notes – good for them for firing him, but as far as I was told by someone in the billing department, nobody ever told Medicaid or offered to pay back the fradulently obtained money.
5. More on staff & services. If you’ve gotten this far, please go back & re-read the disclaimer or just skip this one. One of my clients had a home-based worker. The home-based worker didn’t like the parent so they cancelled virtually all of the scheduled appointments and went for nearly a year without seeing my client. Want proof? I still work with the family, and the home-based worker told me she didn’t like the parent and told me that was the reason she didn’t go out to the house.
6. And yet more about staff…a former (and I stress FORMER – this is not about Dr. K or Dr. C) doctor picked fights with one of my significantly mentally ill and explosive clients in every session – and then told me she did it becuase she liked “getting a rise out of her.”
7. People with high ethical and moral standards – well, some of them got fired for standing up for the rules. There was the head of the HR Department with a Ph.D. in Human Resources. She left a good job to come to CP to straighten things out – unfortunatley she called somebody out on some legal violations and got fired for it. Some department supervisors who stood up for their staff & clients got shown the door.
I left CP before the public found out that the sihp was sinking, but the truth is that the ship was riddled with rot for many years, they just painted the nasty spots over and juggled the bills to keep the place going.
Now, like I said, there are good folks in every organization. If you’ve gotten this far, please keep on going, I want to put a “shout out” to some of my old co-workers.
To LH & JF in Home-based – in my experience no one worked harder or longer for their clients than these 2. JF also cared deeply about his co-workers & their rights. On one occassion he made arrangements with another staff member to notify me of some bad news about a mutual client. JF kept his arm around my shoulder until I stopped crying.
To ML (first name – sorry, I’m drawing a blank on your last name) in case management. She went to the wall for her clients, I know because we shared some cases.
To SW, JB, DJ, and AT in the office based therapy department. Best group of people I’ve ever worked with. SW was my clinical supervisor & I learned not only clinical skills, but how to manage my own feelings of sadness, pain & anger. DJ knew where the kids came from, he came from some of the same places and knew how to get through to them. JB was a great friend, and cared about us all. AT brought a unique skill to our department and allowed us all to pick her brain.
To RO-W. Gone from CP and shaking the dust from her shoes after being shamefully treated. She’s the one who really kept the boat afloat and kept the crew in line.
To Miss L in medical records – no one knew her job like she did. She did it with caring but didn’t take any crap from anybody.
To the docs, both Dr. C & Dr. K. They care about the kids and families and I’m sure they’re horrified by the loss of services to the CP client population. Both of them went above and beyond for their clients.
To Nurse R. A special thank you for all the love to the little girl who loves all things horse & unicorn.
To S., the medical receptionist. She always got things done for the docs, the staff, and most importantly, for the families.
I’ve been gone almost two years and I still miss some of my old co-workers – they’re still the ones I call when my life tanks.
So, does CP deserve to live? Personally, I think there are good front line staff who ought to have an opportunity to keep doing what they do best. In keeping with the sailing ship metaphor, let the top management walk the plank. Hire back JRR, GR, KC, MR, and, even though he drove me nuts, bring back CW, he was a pain, but he’d be able to help shape things up.
So, if you’ve taken the time to read all of this – this is the first time I’ve ever read a blog and so it’s the first time I’ve ever posted – I don’t even know if there are rules or if this will get posted. I have shared my truth & my personal experience, please share YOUR truth, hope, and experience so the same mistakes can be avoided. After all, the ones who really suffer are the clients and their families.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:00 pmDiana, thanks and there are a few rules under the “rules of engagement” but they are basically simple, just to try to respect other people’s opinions and 99.9% of the time posts are immediately posted, once in a while a glitch will happen that will delay it, but I fix that as soon as I see a post is being held.
I really appreciate you sharing your experiences and I hope that “the powers that be” pay attention to what’s been posted here. Welcome to the world of blogging and I hope your comment generates more discussion.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:13 pmDiana,
Wow. Your post is almost exactly my experience of working in Lucas County’s Community Mental Health System. Yes, there are are good, mediocre, and bad employees in every organization. What I noticed is that when the leaders are incompetent — the good leave; the mediocre become bad; and the bad become worse. Just curious — did you move on to another agency within the system or are you out of the system completely?
February 1st, 2009 at 10:58 pmDiana,
I should clarify that I’m interested in where you are at now to see if you think that there are agencies within the system that are better and more ethically run.
February 1st, 2009 at 11:20 pmThe place I work now shows a higher level of committment to clients/families…they walk the walk, not just talk the talk. My faith in the mental health system has been restored, I love going to work everyday, and the successful closure rate is higher than what I had at CP
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 amMy cat stepped on my keyboard while I was typing the first draft of the long post above – my husband pointed out I had neglected to say that the problems in CP pre-dated Jeff D taking over as CEO.
Here’s another horror story (or 2). There’s the case manager that used to come to work stoned on a regular basis, and then there’s the one that lost their license and had the significant other drive to the home visits and go in for coffee with the families…can anyone say HIPPA!!
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:59 pmDiana,
As a CP therapist’s spouse, I know what you’ve written is true. I’ve heard the above points for some time now. Many CP employees know where the problems are, and have been, for a very long time. Several CP office based and CBT therapists have tried their best to correct things, often being blacklisted by upper management, or told to keep quiet. Some of the dysfunctional upper management do not wish to hear it when they’re wrong, or just believe if they continue to do the same things over and over that something will change.
unfortunately it has.
February 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 pmBlackballed and blacklisted is a small statement! One employee was followed by a private detective hired by the agency when the movement to unionize was discussed. The non bargaining team (prevention staff) those employees that wanted to be in the union were fired and the others were scared and threatened with loss of thier jobs, they remained quiet and subservient. God forbide any employee to point out ANYTHING that management has done wrong, the result is harrassment and your loss of employment.
February 2nd, 2009 at 5:23 pmFrustrated Says:
Nate,
As quoted from the Toledo Blade “Some employees faulted the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board for not exercising better oversight.
But Tom Bartlett, assistant executive director of business operations for the mental health board, said board members have no authority over Connecting Point. “Of course we would like to know what is going on,” Mr. Bartlett said. “They are a nonprofit 501(c)(3), and we don’t control their operation.”
MHRSB – The Mental health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County was established on July 11, 2006 by Resolution of the Board of Lucas County Commissioners. Prior to that, services were delivered through two separate systems – the Lucas County Mental Health Board and the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Lucas County.
The two Boards worked for nearly a year to examine the benefits and downfalls to functioning as one single system. Working with a neutral facilitator, a Merger Study Committee was formed to look at the ability to deliver services to the public, operate efficiently as an administrative agency, consolidate the overlap and duplication of services, and to reassure Lucas County residents that the Board was achieving the best possible use for their tax dollars with the maximum available funds allocated to direct services.
At the end of the process it was clear that the Lucas County community and individuals receiving service in both systems would receive greater benefit from a unified system as opposed to separate systems. Working with the County Commissioners and Lucas County delegates to the Ohio Legislature, the Boards took the necessary steps to join together, forming a new entity – the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County.
The issue is the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board knew about this years ago as the 990’s shows. They refused to do anything to jeopardize their jobs which also rely on levy dollars. Their role is to contract with the providers and to be an oversight or local manager overseeing the public dollars to ensure the needs of clients are being met and that the services are being provided via tax payer dollars. The problem was, they knew the mess was coming and they wanted to quietly shut this agency down with no fuss after the levy was passed. Hence thats why the 24 hour Assistance Center was closed after the levy was passed and not before. They are just as responsible as the management of CP. The community and tax payers have a right by law to see any documents of any agency that recieves Medicaid / Public dollars under the Sunshine Law. I wonder what their salaries and spending looks like?! And please some one define what administrative means to the MHSRB since its in thier statement??!!!!
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:31 pmMakes me wonder where the funds came from, as well as how they were listed in the audit, to fund a private detective.
Those guys do not come cheap.
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:32 pmHere is an interesting article about the recent turmoil at CP in Sojourner Truth. It seems like a snow job glossing over the real issues of mismanagement and incompetence.
http://www.thetruthtoledo.com/story/2008/120308/Connect.htm
February 4th, 2009 at 12:36 amHuh, if things are so peachy, why were my friends told to clean their office out (in a hurry)? Oh, and if it’s all going to be ok why are therapists telling their clients ‘we’re closing, oh wait, no we aren’t, um, well maybe we are”? And, just to stir the pot a little more – the photos in the Sojurner article have been used before, so having your picture in that paper doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve still got a job…which might explain why Matt is in the article even though a little birdie told me that the counseling staff were notified when his last date of employment would be.
Come on folks, if you’re still there (and I know some of you are) now’s the time to come clean – not so we can ‘bash’ the place, but to clean out the corners, get the dust bunnies out from under the bed, & pull the weeds out from among the roses. IF you’re willing to do that then maybe, just maybe, the place can regain it’s dignity, honor and the respect of the community and somehow be able to continue doing it’s job. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, it’s easy for me to talk, I’ve got another job…I’ll let you in on a little secret…everybody in mental health has known for years what a mess we were so let’s (finally) be honest about it so maybe the clients won’t suffer quite as much.
February 4th, 2009 at 8:22 amDiana,
You’re a very engaging writer.
The Sojourner Truth article is a snow job! In typical CP fashion, they suggest that the problems are OUTSIDE the organization. Predictably they don’t address any internal operating problems.
February 4th, 2009 at 8:30 amWell, I may have a tiny bit of egg on my face…the link I followed in my email notification about the Sojurner article took me to one printed last December…there’s a more recent article on their website…funny thing is, what it’s reporting is worse than their story in December. Guess that means that CPs dirty little secrets are coming out into the open.
February 4th, 2009 at 8:31 amDiana wrote:
BRAVO Diana!!
Unfortunately most of the people still there are hanging on because they actually thought no one outside of the agency knew how bad things really were, they also were not honest with their own little voices telling them to run.
Too much was going on at CP to keep a handle on. The board was significantly inept and did not care and the samae could be said for Jeff.
Often times CP seemed to brag about their great connection to community resources. This was most often not the case. Many agencies were essentially strong armed or pestered to provide the services that CP was not able to, even though they tried to make things look like a one stop shop.
Matt seems to have landed on his feet and most of the others who saw the writing on the wall and finally felt it to be in their best professional interests have left for what could be considered greener pastures.
Unfortunately, for alot of CP employees they lack the necessary credentials to obtain a job elsewhere. Secondly, once the copeting agencies gobble up the talent pool there will only be crumbs left to sort through.
I do personally feel that it is time to close CP for the benefit of the community. This will provide the oppportunity to determine just how many of these consumers need the help of an agency like CP wanted to be or whether or not most of these matters can be resolved and absorbed through ODJFS, courts or other agencies that are willing to collaborate and develop an agency that can adequately handle, in a responsible manner, the comprehensive needs of this segment of the community.
February 4th, 2009 at 4:13 pmI’m wondering if you are right that maybe the best thing would be to close CP.
February 4th, 2009 at 4:51 pmThey’ve not been responsible stewards of financial resources and therefore have not well-served the community
Well its official, CP will be closing February 28th. All staff meeting was done this afternoon and Executive management informed staff that we will be closing officially on February 28th. Hopefully all transitions with clients will go smoothly and all staff get paid out for hours worked and accumulated vacation and sick time.
February 4th, 2009 at 5:09 pmDoes anyone know if there has been any press/media coverage of the new closure date?
People who’ve got beefs on how the agency was operated should disclose them to whomever will listen.
February 5th, 2009 at 6:49 pmThere has been all kinds of coverage today (Thursday) about the closure. But, the media is reporting the closing date as February 13 – even though employees were advised that the place isn’t closing until the 28th – so one has to wonder when they’re actually closing down. The media also hasn’t reported that the employees’ health insurance hasn’t been paid this month and that they may not get their next pay on time, either. Still a big mess over there from what I’ve heard, but at least it’s coming to a close soon.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:28 pmTo everyone at CP who did their jobs correctly, who gave 150% to their clients, who came to work even when they had no idea if they would be paid: you are strong, you will find a way to survive. I hope that all of the truly good people find new jobs.
To JD & MR:incompetence also has its rewards, doesn’t it? You guys bailed out when you knew the end was near, got good jobs, and left everyong else hanging.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:40 pmTo the ‘in your face’ Board member: you need a lession in professionalism. NO excuse for your behavior.
To the community: someone needs to sort this out and make certain that the bodies are unearthed, the ‘misappropriated funds’ are found, and this NEVER happens again.
The premiums for insurance have not been paid and we were informed this via email this afternoon:
I just wanted to take a few minutes and provide some updates:
1. Lay off notices will be coming today. Please remember to return all Connecting Point property (cell phones, computers, DSM’s, keys, ID etc) to avoid a delay in the processing of your unemployment claims
2. mileage and cell phone reimbursements will be delayed pending receipt of monies
3. All final payouts for all employees will be delayed pending receipt of monies
4. To maximize our limited time to transition client, we will be setting up after hours times that the buildings will be open for employees to remove their personal possessions.
Thank you for your continued dedication to the clients of Connecting Point during this difficult time.
N****** *******, EdD, LISW-S, CSWM
Senior Director of Prevention & Business Services
419-243-6326
That was the email employees got this afternoon and the likelyhood we will get paid for the last few weeks and those in Home Based and Community Based…they doubt they will get any checks for pay or mileage.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:42 pmWillie,
Where did Jeff Deckebach end up ?
February 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pmI know that there is truth in the old saying “What goes around, comes around.” Sometimes I just wish I could be there to see it happen. Guess that’s just the bad dog in me.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:07 pmcorky wrote:
Well Willie Jeff has ended up in his happy place, where he can cower in fear curled up in the fetal position in his basement.
Word has it that he has taken residence in the condo in Port Clinton that he bought with CP money (of course all the property is in the name of the trust – just to keep things easily out of arms reach from the tons of people who will soon file suit against him both civil and criminal).
You certainly shouldn’t expect him to be at his residence in Ottawa Hills.
It’s really sad that so many public figures have been mute on the topic of this agency. I personally feel as if I have been let down and feel that the community has been defrauded. It is certainly too late for Tina, Ben, Anita or the mental health board for that matter to come out and make any statement at all.
Which leads me to beleive that criminal charges will be coming soon, there is most likely a grand jury investigation ongoinig both local and federal and everyone who isn’t talking has been advised by legal counsel not to say a word.
It’s just such a shame that honesty is not a respected quality in leadership, mangement or local public service.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:57 amI admire your optimism, Corky, but I doubt seriously that anyone at CP will face any criminal charges. They’ll file bankruptcy, the bank will seize everything once they’ve finished working everyone as hard as they can (for no compensation) to collect whatever they possibly can, and the leadership will scatter in different directions to get appointments in other community agencies. If employees really want a shot at getting what they are owed and getting to the bottom of things, they ought to file a complaint with the local Department of Labor office (419-524-9403). Our local leaders have failed to act and the union leadership has been as quiet as the CP leadership, so it’s probably up to the employees to blow the whistle if they have any hope of getting paid what they are owed.
February 6th, 2009 at 7:11 amNate,
Do you think that no one will face criminal charges because no crimes have been committed or because there is apathy on the part of the authorities to investigate this?
Did JD end up with a new job?
February 6th, 2009 at 7:39 amApathy and those who should be acting are involved, so they’re not going to risk their own careers/reputations. And I’m sure they’re all counting on apathy on the part of others to keep themselves out of trouble.
No idea regarding JD, but he’s long gone, so I can’t imagine anyone would bother with him either.
February 6th, 2009 at 7:43 amIt has been a failure from the Executive Management, MHRSB, Board of Directors the County Commissioners and SEIU. The real losers are the clients whom we have cried with, sat with and provided the best services we could as loyal employees. To my fellow workers whom have stuck this out until the end, remember Karma is a B****! I will miss you all and it was a great pleasure working with all of you. To those and you know who you are, whom have lied to all the employees and clients from the get go, I hope you can live with yourself looking into the mirror everyday. I will not forget the failure here from my elected officials and the MHRSB either when reelection comes around and I also will be a voice in the crowd to remind them of this.
February 6th, 2009 at 7:47 amHaving checked with Jeff’s wife on what her retainer & hourly fees would be for legal services I think it’s a safe bet her income as an attorney accounts for the beach house in Port Clinton.
As for legal charges, well, there’s wrong, there’s illegal, and then there’s “beyond a reasonable doubt,” so I don’t think anyone’s going to court, much less jail/fines/restitution.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:33 amDon’t be so quick to write this one off Diana.
First, Jill is lucky to get what she can. She didn’t work her way up in Randy’s firm – she bought her way into it. Jill has a long history of making long term enemies. She’s not that talented and she certainly does not have a full docket. She makes alot less than one would expect.
There have been some interesting people asking some interesting questions. It is the subtle ways in which they are asking that is the clue. The other interesting aspect is that the other agencies are not saying much of anything. No one is talking from labor all the way up the management food chain.
There are alot of dirty little secrets in every agency’s closets. Since all of them depend on the MHRSB it is in their best interest to downplay and even ignore what has happened here because if this turns out the way this should, there will be an entirely new group of faces there and they wont be appointed by the commissioners. If all turns out the way these things should there will be a federally appointed receivership that will run the MHRSB and then the party will be over for everyone.
Diana, forensic accounting and non profit fraud has been my forte for a good number of years and this one is a dream come true for case studies in culpability.
In an ecomomy where people are losing everything -”beyond a reasonable doubt” is an easy standard. Besides the civil class action the out of work and out of benefit employees should be filing will bring more to light to the situation.
Think of it as a scene from the Antiques Roadshow…”On the right day with the right conditions this could easilly go for (insert dollar amount here)”
Yes jail is out since that’s for 12 month or less sentence. Prison is a good possibility since someone is going to take a hit on some level for this it’s just the question of who.
February 7th, 2009 at 1:27 amBecause CP is in Lucas County, those of you with concerns of illegal activity should go to the prosecutor’s office. Seriously.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:01 amBill,
I hope you are correct, Friday all of the staff were layed off, one Executive Manager told her employees she was taking all of them (prevention team and the grants) to another agency and she would not tell them where. What about the employees whom have no jobs now? Talk about illegal! State and Federal Grants that she knew where being used to fund other areas in the agency that should not have been. The idea of Paul robbing from Peter to pay bills and vise versa was a norm there.
CP was riddled with power plays, power hungry individuals whom kept it floating to keep the big fat pays going. Those that saw it could not be kept going like that bailed and left the lower level employees in the dark to fend for themselves.
Also email accounts were shut down at 2:00 pm Friday afternoon and many employees were still trying to transfer clients out to other agencies and were unable to. Per the computer tech he was following orders to disable the servers and all employees email. Many client do not know where they are going to recieve services at and some whom have not even been contacted. Where is the MHRSB now whom was advertising during this process saying no clients would fall through the cracks?!?!?!
February 7th, 2009 at 8:29 amBill,
my response to your post can only be…YEEHAW!!!!
I hope it happens – not because I’m angry, but because it was wrong.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:31 amI have no idea where anyone from an executive management position could simply pick up with agency designated/awarded grant money; with agency related staff and merely go to another provider under the same funding without going through alot of hoops and approvals.
This is another example of how CP’s management ended up in this mess. Grant money is very specific as you know. If you want to change the the grant staff, money and program, including who exactly is connected with such – you have to have specific authority to do so through the grant funding source. In alot of cases like this, the grant is simply terminated and remaining monies are either returned or ongoing funds are not releaseed. If you want to take your monies and leave for another agency than that agency must obviously be approved for such takeover and again this is done through the funding source.
Anyone telling their employees that they are taking the grant and the employees with them, especially when they are exectutive level mangement, is either under the influence of something, outright lying, is grossly inept and misinformed or all of these combined.
I wouldn’t put too much faith in the word of any manager at CP. Unfortunately, I have known a number of the managers at CP, I have not been impressed by many. However, like many others I was simply thankful that I did not work for any of them.
Within Lucas County there is such a pervasive system of unknkown relationships, mostly based upon favors and power plays. Most often staff and clients are sold out in multiple agencies all to benefit a chosen few.
Unfortunately through the arrogance and greed of these few there are now a multitude of people who are without benefits. This is a terrible irony, in that the clients that were served are now significantly more powerful as related to community resouces since they havee the luxuary of TANF, General Relief, food stamps and in some circumstances subsidized housing.
The biggest and most insulting/damning of the entitlements is the one CP employees worked for on their client’s behalf – and that is medicaid – which was the life blood of the agency.
I remember a few years ago about a really great program that Jeff wanted to work on in the Toledo area that had great success in other areas of the country. Unfortunately Jeff did not have a good understandingg about these programs or had a great understanding and just wanted the monney on the backs of others. When it came time for him to pony up he suddenly had second thoughts.
This would have been a great opportunity for Jeff and the agency as a whole. It would have elevated CP to such a high level of respect and validity within the community. Instead like any great idea or opportunity it was passed up as too complicated simply because someone was going to have to put an effort into things.
Honestly, all of us on an individual basis can come up with our own list of leaders in CP to focus upon. And all of us would have valid reasons for such. The sad part about that is the end result is the same no matter who has the most votes for culpability.
End result; too many have lost so much in this fiasco. A fiasco that was created by greed, ingnorance, arrogance and desire for selefish, personal gain.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:48 ambill;
My understanding is that they’ve been courting/communicating with another agency since this all started to unravel in January and that this mystery agency’s board is all for it and both parties are trying to get the the green-light from the funders to make it happen.
In the meantime, though, they’re still stringing a lot of the remaining people along with nothing more than hope and speculation, and those people are being forced to remain with CP until a final decision is made – working, mind you, with no guarantee of pay, no insurance, and no knowledge of where they may be tomorrow, next week, or the week after.
I’ve seen some really bad examples of how to manage things, but these CP execs are just re-writing the book on that topic. I wonder how any of this is legal, but I’m guessing that they know it’s not and they know they’ll be out of business before anyone with any authority to investigate them can do anything.
February 8th, 2009 at 11:09 amNate,
Depending where and how this grant money for prevention was provided will determine if this would be able to be pulled off. There would still have to be a whole lot of things that would have to happen.
It would be simple for another agency to let someone use their offices when and if the money to pay them is not an issue. However, there are still other expenses, like health insurance that would have to be considered somewhere along the line. It would not necessarilly be prudent or legal for another agency to simply let someone piggy back onto another agency’s plan since there is not the umbrella of the mental health trust anymore.
From a mangement perspective this is a very difficult thing to grasp. I say that because here you have a manager of prevention from an agency that is under extreme scrutiny right now. No one really knows what is going on or has occured with CP dollars and no one can say with certainty that prevention dollars were not utilized in an inappropriate manner.
Ultimately if the majority of the grant monies were provided by MHRSB this would make things easier. However, if the monies came from other sources and did not pass through MHRSB there are a myriad of laws and rules regarding such allocations none of which the manager of the prevention team has any control over.
And now that I am on the topic of the prevention manager, I can tell you that their reputation preceeds them. They were instrumental in most of the negative issues that riddled Zepf when they began to make waves there as related to restructuring and having things their way. I have always found them to be rather aloof and out of touch with reality and essentially a bumpkin with power. Obviously they are not someone to be trusted by my experience. They are the “poison pill” for lack of a better term.
This “know it all” tried to explain to me one time that people just did not understand how things work at CP when I brought up the issue regarding questionable accounting and management inpropriety. Needless to say I do not have conversations with this person anymore other than “hello” since I know that they do not understand how things work when there is transparency. If you indeed have the opportunity to go with the prevention team to another agency do so to keep the lights on but I would not put my faith in this person.
If prevention can be brought back to life in another agency that would at least bring back some jobs but not all. But more importantly, I think this is just the manager of the department looking out for their best personal interests and agenda. “Hey look what I’ve got, bring me onboard and we can get this thing running in no time – but make sure you get me onboard because this won’t happen without me onboard first.”
Any agency at this point should be leary of hiring any CP management staff until the dust settles.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:58 amHow do we continue to follow what’s happening? When the doors close and there’s no one to talk to for on-going information how will we (personally & the community) know what’s going on?
February 9th, 2009 at 10:13 amThe rumor is that bargaining employees will be paid this Friday, but those whom are in community based and home based will not get thier mileage and cell phone reimburstments at this time. There are dozens of employees whom racked up miles on thier vehicles and on cell phones to provide services ( which accumulates to an average of about $300-$400 dollars for a monthly mileage check) they will probably not see this money. Non bargaining..well good luck getting paid at all.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:15 pmDiana, I doubt there’s anyway to stay up-to-date – the local media doesn’t seem to observant and it doesn’t seem like those who should be speaking up are going to right now.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:45 pmPlease do not take offense at what I am going to write. Posting here (while important) is not going to get the media’s attention. Many newsrooms (print and television) have also laid off staff members and so the idea that they are going to “work” a story is just not the case anymore. Stories get presented to the community when most of the work has already been done. Newsrooms deal with what is right in front of them most of the time. They don’t have the time or motivation to dig through public records that draw into question the conduct of elected officials, public figures, or stewards of taxpayer money. If you want to get this story out there — you’ve got to do it.
Print off the records that LisaRenee attached to this thread, get together some other documentation, and literally give it to a reporter that you think might be good at exposing some of this.
If you don’t want your name attached to the story then ask them to not reveal your identity. Journalistic ethics prevents them from doing that if you want to protect yourself. It doesn’t have to be a kind of darkened image of you either. It could just be that you are the source with no reference to you at all.
Traditional media has changed. Gone are the days of a reporter really working a beat. Gone are the days of really digging into stories. If you want this story out there to the general public then you’ve got to do the leg work.
It is important. I’d like some of these questions answered:
1) What were the circumstances of the departure of JD the previous CEO?
2) What other large expenses were there (legal fees, private investigators?!?) that were outside the normal expenditures?
3) What were the average salaries of administrators and managers versus the average pay of therapists and direct staff?
4) What were the circumstances surrounding the late filings of tax reports?
5) What were the circumstances surrounding the late filings of other reports?
February 10th, 2009 at 7:25 amBTW, here are the questions that I want answered:
1) What were the circumstances surrounding the departure of JD?
2) What about the late tax filings?
3) What about the late reports to the MHRB?
4) What about the other expenses that were outside normal client care (legal fees and private investigators?)?
5) What is the actual transition plan for clients?
6) What about the employees who work there now? Will they get paid?
February 10th, 2009 at 7:38 amSounds like a perfect job for Lisa. Get moving girl…Chop Chop!
February 10th, 2009 at 8:17 amSure Lisa can give the documents to a reporter, but it is going to take someone else to put it into perspective.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:23 amI have been pointing out to some of those I know in the media this post and the other ones where comments have been made as well as sharing emails when I’ve been given permission to do so.
The media does many times pick up stories from the blog, a few of them read the blog on a fairly regular basis as well as elected officials/county & city employees. As to the questions? They are good ones, what I have done is I have emailed them to all three Lucas County Commissioners. When I get a response? I’ll blog it.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:56 amThanks Lisa. There are a lot of people who care about this story.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:30 amYes, there are Corky, that’s why I’m trying my best to continue to cover this and to get as many answers as I can.
I can only imagine how frustrating it is for everyone to not only lose their jobs but not know if they are going to be paid, or the status of their health insurance.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:41 amIn the presence of so many questions and the almost absolute silence on the matter in the community – I declare something fishy about this.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:42 pmExactly! How does an organization go from having an almost 9 million dollar operating budget to not having enough money to meet payroll, premiums on insurance, etc.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:54 pmThe majority of staff clinical and administrative supports (all union members) were laid off on February 6th. The major implication of the layoff is that almost all of the children served by Connecting Point will receive an impersonal phone call from a bureaucratic administrator (still getting paid) stating that the individual or individuals that these children put their trust, faith, and hopes in for years will no longer be speaking to them. Oh, and by the way which cold, impersonal, bureaucratic institution’s name sounds best to you; so we can transfer your trust, faith, hopes, and dreams elsewhere.
The sting of the despicable (correct usage) way that CP met its end is being felt by the wrong people. These children have suffered enough.
This administration its predecessor and their board (by indifference) have objectified these children reducing them down to a revenue source, and a means to consolidate power. This administration’s character (and that of its predecessors) was exemplified by its lack of regard for, and handling of, these children in the end, which is unfortunately indicative of all that has yet to be said on this issue.
Call it a “lack of foresight”, or “desperate attempts to preserve power and image” the writing was on the wall at CP for years none of those with power liked it and now we know why.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:15 pmThe continued struggle of transferring these clients to other agencies is a complete mess, many of the other agencies are overwhelmed and at a loss themselves. SO MANY of these CHILDREN and parents have NOT been contacted as to where they can go to obtain ongoing services. Those children whom are strictly alcohol and drug related issues have no place to go but to Renew Minds and they are overwhelmed already. So many children will be turned away or placed on waiting lists. I feel that many of these parents and children will not get the services they are entitled to and deserve that were promised by the MHRSB.
Also many of these agencies must follow the state’s protocol to become certified as an alcohol and drug certified agency to provide services for youths. It takes about a year for the process to be certified. So much for the transition process.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:06 amthere are a few things going on in the community regarding getting staff to help with the transition and incorporating more clts into other agencies. those staff who have been hired by other agencies are kid of at their mercy meaning the staff have in some instances been offered 10,00 dollars less a year for doing what they did at cp and mosst of the staff being hired are taking the positions because of the need to pay their bills, support families
etc
i realize that we are all going through tough times . my consern is that we value entertainment , and things more than we do people and are willing to pay top notch for those things rather than helping people.so services are limited , staff have hugh caseloads and needed things , etc are not avaible to staff to improve on their knowledge and skills.
its a hit or miss gaining of knowledge. yes we all have to start somewhere but why not use and pay for those who have the knowledge and are willing to share the skills and knowlege.
so in this respect the clts are again getting short shifted with the least experienced person because the agencies dont want to or can not afford to pay experienced people in the field
it is just one of the many things that clts have to deal with in a community mental health agency setting . possibly it could be made better if it were approeach differently.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm//
there are a few things going on in the community regarding getting staff to help with the transition and incorporating more clts into other agencies. those staff who have been hired by other agencies are kid of at their mercy meaning the staff have in some instances been offered 10,00 dollars less a year for doing what they did at cp and mosst of the staff being hired are taking the positions because of the need to pay their bills, support families
etc
i realize that we are all going through tough times . my consern is that we value entertainment , and things more than we do people and are willing to pay top notch for those things rather than helping people.so services are limited , staff have hugh caseloads and needed things , etc are not avaible to staff to improve on their knowledge and skills.
its a hit or miss gaining of knowledge. yes we all have to start somewhere but why not use and pay for those who have the knowledge and are willing to share the skills and knowlege.
so in this respect the clts are again getting short shifted with the least experienced person because the agencies dont want to or can not afford to pay experienced people in the field
it is just one of the many things that clts have to deal with in a community mental health agency setting . possibly it could be made better if it were approeach differently.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm//
So one of the fishier things going on is that the ‘clients’ are being given the heave ho and the community wouldn’t think too kindly of their at risk kids having been treated firstly, as a revenue stream and then as ballast.
It is very sad. I feel for the employees but it’s the kids who have been let down and are vulnerable.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:50 pmLatest post on this topic for those of you following this thread can be found here. It is an important one related to this continuing story.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:06 pmLisa,
Many of us left and some have taken pay cuts around 4-10 dollars an hour. If you have bills to pay and a family to support you have to do what you have to do and I do not blame them at all. It is very frustrating. The ultimate betrayal the majority of us feel, is that all these kids will be missing out. So many still are waiting to find services at other agencies or have not even been contacted due to they have no phones, or are constantly moving due to thier financial situations. These children and families are the poorest of the social-economic status. These are extremely mentally ill children whom other agencies did not want and Connecting Point took them in.
What sums all this up is that nate and fleeced are correct. All the employees were betrayed, lied to and were let down by the MHRSB, management, board of directors and the County Commissioners. I am very Pissed Off and I will make sure when all these individuals are up for re-election I will be out there cyring out about where they turned thier backs on the children and families of this community. They all should be ashamed of themselves.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:10 pmThis is my first post. I’m over the beaten down feeling, let’s be frank…
In 04 PgM consulting did a feasibility report for Connecting Point regarding its proposed Capital Campaign. The purpose of the campaign was to build a new building to house CP programming. The report clearly states that CP could due no better than a 1.2 million dollar Campaign at best. Within that report the Philanthropic community (Dana Corp, the Andersons, ProMedica, etc.) who were consulted by PgM is quoted as having serious misgivings about CP’s real ability to raise the funds needed for the project. Quotes include: “Don’t put the cart before the horse, go easy on the bricks and mortar, work on substance of the services, emphasize partnering and collaborations”, and “It will be tough to achieve even a modest goal without more awareness in the community”. Of the seven quotes supplied from the philanthropic community only 1 gives any signal to the reader that that the donor in question would even “consider funding” the project.
In the end, PgM states its belief that a 1.2 million dollar goal is within the realm of possibility. (CP originally wanted a 5 million dollar campaign and as a side note the 5 million dollar project was used to solicit contributions from CP staff). But Jeff decides to GO for it any way and not just to the tune of 1.2 million when you click on the blade link you’ll find the project was up to 3 million.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609140333
The 2 main vehicles for raising these monies (outside of the employee contributions mentioned above) were the Chuck Ealey & Christine Brennan Legacy for Kids Celebrity Pro-Am, and Connecting Point’s TRIUMPH Awards. A review of CP’s 990 forms during the capital campaign (05-08 ) will show that these yearly events never raised a dime. Which begs the question why hold them?
Name recognition; the PgM feasibility report clearly states that the overall lack of CP awareness in the giving community would hurt its fundraising ability. Quotes from the philanthropic community surveyed on this issue included: “Heard of them, sounds like a tutoring service, their name doesn’t tell me what they do”, “I am familiar with Connecting Point, but I believe it has no image in the funding community”. Of the five quotes listed on “awareness” all five were negative.
So CP’s plan became let’s throw our name out there every year with these two events will take a loss on them each time, but if people know about the agency it may be possible to attract a few big donors.
During the same period of the capital campaign (05-08 ) CP staff also campaigned for a renewed investment in the agency’s severely deficient infrastructure as a means to meet programming goals (caseload reports, accurate job descriptions, a clearly defined work day, policies that didn’t contradict themselves giving management unlimited discretion, a policy against nepotism, access to the client data base, fully staffing medical records, a licensed client rights officer, etc). The biggest barrier to programming goals was “limited to access to needed client information”. The average clinical lost countless hours a week searching for client info that either never made it a file, or was in not entered in to the client data base, which no clinical staff member had access to until 2007. Compound this info with the fact that in the last ten years CP has never been able to produce an accurate caseload report. This fact alone speaks volumes, because it speaks directly to the administration’s level of concern about how a client process through the agency. The clear implication for front line staff is oblivious; if you are routinely forced to search for client info you are not meeting client needs, or generating revenue. A BIG issue one would think (I can highlight the others later if you wish).
So needless to say the concept of spending money on “advertizing for donors” while your front line staff lack the means to generate the revenue needed to float the place was more than a little daft. So staff produced Time studies, wrote petitions, filed grievances, and made speeches in front of the board of trustees. All of this effort not only fell on deaf ears, but was met with retaliation. Instead of listening to front line staff CP’s administers produced punitive policies in an effort to force their impossible demands. Staff members perceived to be out of step with the administration (those who could not be easily fired) faced vilification including: false changes to state licensure board, false charges of workplace violence, false charges of fraudulent billing, hiring a private investigator, general slander, discrimination (call the EEOC and see how many charges have been filed against CP in recent years) and pressuring mid level managers to rectify “the problem” against their moral/ ethical instincts. (Midlevel management at CP was a hero’s task, and many truly good people fell). This piece was added because it would be a true injustice to condemn CP as a whole. I have never worked with a more dedicated group of caring staff members in my life. Despite all of the $%!# we have endured over the years we still stayed, perhaps naively, but I have to believe that the goal of forcing CP’s administration to walk out its stated mission was something greater than just a job.
In the end, CP finally produced an independent auditor’s report in December of 08 (Gilmore, Jasion & Mahler, LTD). CP’s leadership was never able to raise 1.2 million that PgM thought it could in 04.The report show that the bulk of the monies raised came from 3 different temporary restricted assets(meaning that they had donor imposed restrictions) totaling $650,400. The report also states that CP (Jeff per other internal cp documents) began to draw down these assets for pre construction costs to the tune of 522,592 (the remaining 127,808 was supposedly spent on operation costs). These restricted funds were spent despite knowing that at least 2 million additional dollars still needed to be raised, and the original feasibility report stating that only 1.2 million was possible….maybe. The payback on the capital campaign was a major feature in CP’s demise, but I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that this was all that CP administration mismanaged, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
February 13th, 2009 at 11:17 amScruples,
EXCELLENT! Keep adding your information!
I know of a front line therapist who was constantly trying to make improvements to the problems you listed. This therapist was blacklisted by her supervisor, who barred her from attending staff meetings and office-based supervision (where problems and cases were discussed.) Also the supervisor instructed all other supervisors not to speak to this therapist.
Some of middle management were excellent while others were not. Unfortunately Jeff D. and Matt R. couldn’t tell them apart, which made life miserable for a lot of people.
February 13th, 2009 at 3:50 pm