Death of L.A. County Social Worker

The news of the fatal stabbing of Robbyn Panitch by one of her patients at the Los Angeles County Mental Health Clinic in Santa Monica hit me like a ton of bricks. A visual image of her smiling face and dangling earrings comes to mind. I knew her. I graduated in the same class with her from the USC School of Social Work in 1985. I remember her down-to-earth, unpretentious nature. And I remember her commitment to both the field of social work and to the homeless and chronically mentally ill population.

But there’s something else that nags at me as I experience the emotional impact of this tragedy. I do the same thing for a living that she did. I’ve worked with the outpatient Mental Health Department in Orange County, and now in Santa Clara County, where security is minimal. I’ve gone into the streets to evaluate people armed with nothing other than a pen and a pad of paper. I’ve seen severely psychotic patients alone in an office about the size of a walk-in closet.

I’ve had tables pushed at me, doors slammed so hard against the wall that holes were left where the knobs hit and patients casually mention my home address to me during therapy sessions, admitting to following me home the previous week. I’ve been witness to patients screaming, pacing and pounding the tables with their fists.

And I wonder as I sit writing this, and as I contemplate the possibility of moving back down to Orange County and working in county mental health again, why haven’t I been the target of more severe attacks? When will it be my turn?

Yes, the reaction is fear. But it is also one of outrage and indignation. Does society realize the tremendous financial cuts that have been made in the public mental health system in recent years? That additional budget cuts are being proposed? Do citizens outside the mental health profession realize that caseloads are growing increasingly larger, and at this point, that workers are being authorized to see only the most seriously mentally ill?

What this leads to is fewer licensed, experienced clinicians who are willing to work in the public mental health system, decreased motivation and enthusiasm, increased burnout and decreased sensitivity to the potential hazards that patients might present.

I demand a response from the community. I challenge citizens to call their local state representative or county supervisor’s office and simply state, “I support additional funding for public mental health services.” Additional monies need to be made available to public mental health to provide for a variety of services ranging from increased availability of psychiatrists for more effective and comprehensive medication monitoring to an increased number of socialization programs.

Will other mental health professionals be seriously harmed or possibly die before action is taken? If Robbyn was here she would ask the very same question.

DIANNA J. MOORE

San Jose

Moore is a licensed clinical social worker.