Flynn Seeks to Keep State Funding

Ventura County should be allowed to keep $5.3 million in annual mental health funding because it is committed to getting its troubled department back on track, Supervisor John K. Flynn said Monday.

Flynn took that message to Stephen Mayberg, director of the state Department of Mental Health, during a Sacramento lobbying trip. The state office is in the midst of reviewing the county’s Behavioral Health Department to determine whether it should continue receiving millions in special funding each year to serve as a model for providing mental health services.

A state audit earlier this year found that services for the mentally ill have deteriorated over the years. It questioned whether the county deserves the label of “model county,” a designation that entitles it to the $5.3 million in funding.

The audit was done at the request of state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), who alleged that mental health services were being compromised by actions taken by Pierre Durand, who heads the agency that oversees mental health services for the county. Durand’s supporters say he has done a good job and that Wright is flexing her political muscle, because she does not like recent management changes in the mental health department.

Mayberg indicated that the state would not make a final decision until a five-person team is sent to Ventura County to try to help the county mental health department “get back on track,” Flynn said.

Although the funding has been withheld from the county since July 1, it is still in the department’s budget and available to the county if the state decides to release it, Flynn said. The supervisor, who is running for a seventh term next spring, said he is also committed to resolving internal squabbles within the county’s Behavioral Health Department that have flared for more than a year.

“We ought to stop this stupid, ridiculous finger pointing, back stabbing and bickering,” Flynn said. “And I’ve appointed myself to do that. That sounds like bravado, but it needs to be done, and I hope my board members support me.”

He plans to bring psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and other employee groups together to work out differences that have splintered the department. He will also make clear his support of Dr. David Gudeman, appointed director at Behavioral Health earlier this year, Flynn said.

“I will use a lot of humor, but also be very firm,” Flynn said. “Everyone will have to give in some.”