New law gives DHR state control over mental health services

ATLANTA - New legislation aimed at improving the quality of mental health services in Georgia also overhauls the existing system, transferring control from 13 regional boards to the state Department of Human Resources. <br> <br> The new law seeks to streamline a bureaucracy blamed for poor oversight of 173,000 Georgians in programs for mental illness, mental retardation and substance abuse. <br> <br> Regional boards were not directly accountable to state officials in Atlanta. Now, responsibility for the $1 billion annual budget for those programs lies with the state Department of Human Resources. <br> <br> Gov. Roy Barnes signed the legislation Thursday. <br> <br> ``It makes clear that the delivery of services and the contracting of services is done by the Department of Human Resources,&#39;&#39; said DHR Commissioner Jim Martin. <br> <br> The bill had failed in previous legislative sessions, despite the support of House Speaker Tom Murphy, D-Bremen. <br> <br> Last year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that 163 people in such programs had died with little or no state investigation during the previous four years. Some had choked or drowned while unsupervised; others were severely malnourished. <br> <br> The 13 regional boards had assumed control of those services under a 1993 law that was hailed as a national model that would give users of the services more say. The new law preserves the regional boards as advisory bodies. <br> <br> An advocate for the disabled said she was skeptical that the DHR could offer better accountability when the system veered out of control under the agency&#39;s watch. <br> <br> ``Why did they let it go sloppy, so sloppy that people were dying?&#39;&#39; said Beth Tumlin, state director of Unlock the Waiting List. ``I have great concerns about everything going back down to the state.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Others welcomed the changes. <br> <br> ``The regional system was so dysfunctional that something had to be done,&#39;&#39; said Cary Grubbs, president of the Georgia ARC Network, an association of small service providers. <br> <br> But Grubbs and other advocates worry the new structure will reduce participation from patients and their families. <br> <br> ``We are going to work hard to make sure that doesn&#39;t happen,&#39;&#39; Martin said. ``We don&#39;t want to go back on the gains that have been made in terms of consumer empowerment, family involvement and decision making.&#34;

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