State Audit Is Ordered for Agency in Turmoil

The state Department of Mental Health will audit Ventura County’s beleaguered mental health department to ensure that $5.3 million the county receives each year in special funding is being spent as the law requires, a state official said Tuesday.

Auditors will visit the Behavioral Health Department over the next six weeks, looking not only at finances but at how programs are run, said Dr. Stephen Mayberg, director of the state’s Department of Mental Health. A turf battle over how the county mental health agency should be run and allegations of misuse of department funds prompted the review, Mayberg said.

“I’m concerned about the fact that Ventura County is having difficulties, and I’m worried about the fact that it may impact patient care,” Mayberg said.

State Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) requested the action at a Monday hearing of the budget subcommittee on health and human services. Her motion passed as a priority measure that will be completed before the Legislature completes its budget cycle in June, Mayberg said.

Last week, Wright accused Pierre Durand, who runs the mental health agency and the county’s hospital, of replacing top administrators in the Behavioral Health Department as part of a political vendetta. The legislator contends that Durand forced this week’s resignation of Stephen G. Kaplan, the mental health agency’s director, and ousted two of his top aides because Kaplan attempted to remove his department from Durand’s control last year.

Wright said Durand’s moves threaten to undermine Ventura County’s reputation as a leader in mental health care--a standing that entitles the county to $5.3 million annually in special funding.

Wright also questioned whether Durand is inappropriately using revenue from the mental health department to cover the costs of running Ventura County Medical Center. County chief administrator Lin Koester is expected to order an internal county audit today to answer that question.

The state’s review will include consultants from outside the county and staff from the Department of Mental Health, Mayberg said. Durand was not available for comment Tuesday.

On one level, the dispute is a political turf battle between county bureaucrats over who should lead the Behavioral Health Department. But both sides say the public should be worried about how the feud will affect services for the mentally ill in Ventura County.

Supporters of Kaplan say a sweeping reorganization, and the elevation of psychiatrists to management positions, is demoralizing staff and disrupting the county’s mental health programs.

But Durand and his advocates say he is trying to save millions of taxpayer dollars that could be lost because of Kaplan’s bungled attempt last year to merge his department with the county’s social services agency. The U.S. Health Care Financing Administration also is reviewing Behavioral Health’s billing procedures to determine if Ventura County followed requirements.