Opening Statement of Councilmember Grosso

Committee on Health and Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety

Joint Public Oversight Hearing on the Department of Behavioral Health
February 26, 2018

Thank you, Chairperson Gray and Chairperson Allen, for convening this
important joint performance oversight hearing on the annual performance of the
Department of Behavioral Health.

I want to also extend my thanks to the Council for Court Excellence and the
Office of the Auditor for the completion of the robust report that is before us
today.

While the report is narrowly focused on DBH’s work with justice-involved

individuals and the criminal justice system broadly, I believe it is the culmination
of a series of perplexing and deeply troubling events.

First, amid questions over his credentials and qualifications, Mr. James Kyle
abruptly resigned as the CEO of St. Elizabeth’s—requiring Director Royster to
serve as both head of DBH as well as the hospital. A position she held for 4
months, which is not insignificant.

We’d soon learn, through performance oversight, that several of our Core Service
Agencies had not been paid for local-dollar services, in some cases dating back to
2014, due to the failure of the iCAMS billing system.

A similar system failure would occur later, resulting in DBH delaying payments to
Adult Substance Abuse Rehabilitative Services (ASARS) providers.

DBH’s non-payment of claims, coupled with other factors, would lead to the
closure of several community-based organizations to include Green Door and
Youth Villages, organizations that had previously received high quality and
financial score marks on DBH’s Provider Scorecard.

Next, we’d hear complaints from schools, parents and in-school clinicians
following the roll out of the Department’s new School-Based Mental Health Plan.
A rollout that failed to adequately engage in-school clinicians, school leaders and

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other interested stakeholders and a plan that failed to articulate a comprehensive
implementation and financial framework.

This roll out would require the Council to take action to approve legislation in the
FY18 budget to establish a Task Force to review the plan and make
recommendations for its improvement.

All of the events have led us here, where we’re now grappling with the
Department’s persistent and worsening provision and delivery of forensic
services.

The common themes highlighted throughout the CCE report include a lack of
qualified personnel, poor infrastructure with regard to data and internal controls,
and a lack of strong leadership, vision and clear mandates.

Perhaps we’ve reached a point where we must seriously ask ourselves: is the
Department of Behavioral Health too large? Has the 2013 merger worked and if
not, why? Could these issues be resolved with stronger leadership?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know that we cannot
continue down this path. To do so would be to the detriment of our most
vulnerable populations and to the city as a whole.

It is my hope, that through this hearing and in ongoing discussions with the
Department, the answers become clearer, so I look forward to engaging with all
of the witnesses today and I thank you for your testimony.

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