Mental Health

State health investigators disclosed Wednesday that they have uncovered evidence of "fraud or willful misrepresentation" by an Eastern Shore drug treatment and mental health clinic, including overbilling and charging for the work of physicians who were not at the facility. The inspector general of the state health department sent a letter Wednesday to Warwick Manor Behavioral Health Inc., near Cambridge, saying the state has suspended all Medicaid payments to the clinic. Warwick Manor treats roughly 2,000 patients a year and billed the state's Medicaid program $1.5 million last year.

A group of 50 to 60 people gathered in downtown Aberdeen Thursday evening to remember two homeless people who died last Friday after they were found unresponsive in a tent at an encampment in the woods on the city's east side. Standing near the corner of Franklin and Parke streets near the library, city hall and festival park, the group included members of the clergy, advocates for the homeless and mental health, families and friends of the two dead people and other homeless people.

As President Obama observed so effectively in Tucson last Wednesday, civil discussions of public policy at a time of great tragedy are an essential ingredient of democracy. While we may never know exactly what motivated last weekend's attack that resulted in six dead, "we cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. " One thing that has become clear is that the man accused of firing those shots in Tucson was seriously troubled and likely mentally ill. The warning signs surrounding Jared L. Loughner, from his bizarre behavior at Pima Community College to his disordered thinking revealed in notes and videos, seem glaring in retrospect.

As one who has dealt both personally and professionally with Maryland's mental health system, I feel compelled to respond to reader Aileen Kroll's letter about the state's weak civil commitment law for people suffering from severe mental illnesses ("Problems at Perkins will continue until Maryland broadens access to treatment for the severely mentally ill," Nov. 18). First, I fail to see the connection between the two murders this year at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center and Ms. Kroll's advocacy of assisted outpatient treatment, also known as outpatient commitment.

The Board of Directors of the Office on Mental Health/Core Service Agency of Harford County has announced the appointment of R. Terence Farrell as the agency's executive director. Farrell comes to the agency with more than 30 years of human service and mental health program management experience. He was most recently a private organizational consultant and prior to that was the executive director of the North Baltimore Mental Health Center, an affiliate of the Sheppard Pratt Health System.

I am an advocate for adequate funding for public education. I understand how important it is that our schools have the resources they need. However, I am also the leader of an organization that provides high-quality services — including mental health services — to thousands of people in this region, and I am deeply disturbed that mental health funds are being used to restore cuts to education, an area that has historically remained untouched...

I am the current president of the Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland (CBH), a group of long established, mission-driven providers of community mental health care to the poorest and neediest Maryland citizens. I was pleased to read your editorial comment ("The General Assembly's to-do list," March 27 ) supporting an increase in alcohol tax. You note — correctly — that the dime-a drink proposal was to provide funds for mental health care; however, the bill on the table now — SB 994 — raises less money, raises it more slowly, and, most importantly, does not fund those distressed though deserving programs.

The woman sat handcuffed in front of Baltimore Circuit Judge Gale Rasin, freshly convicted of second-degree child abuse for beating her 8-year-old grandchild with a belt. She was 44, depressed, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and likely dealing with post-traumatic stress from being raped twice, according to a court medical report, yet she had received little treatment. Her father physically abused her growing up, and she, in turn, abused her own family, Rasin concluded during the hearing.

I am writing in support of the Sheppard Pratt facility that is proposed to extend the retreat treatment offered at that hospital. Many people are given good care in hospitals and in this area are thrust out on their own with inadequate support immediately upon concluding a course of treatment. I knew someone who actually relocated to Boston because the support services for persons with mental illness were so superior to those in this area, Sheppard Pratt notwithstanding. Indeed, it was the lack of strong "step-down" facilities like the one proposed that was a major concern.

Maryland lawmakers plan to examine the operations of a Baltimore mental health clinic in the wake of an investigation by The Baltimore Sun that revealed high Medicaid billings, and a state regulator said six family members on the nonprofit's board must relinquish voting authority to comply with state law. Del. Peter A. Hammen, a Baltimore Democrat and chairman of the Health and Government Operations Committee, said Wednesday that he plans to...

Clifton Perkins Hospital Center, where two patients recently were killed by other patients, is one of several broken mental health facilities in Maryland ("Man indicated on murder charge in Jessup mental hospital death," Nov. 11). People typically wind up there as a result of having committed a violent act stemming from a severe untreated mental illness. Tragically, only by committing violence can they get help. That's because Maryland has one of the most restrictive civil commitment laws in the nation.

Regarding the story, "A Place to Call Home," by Kevin Rector, in the Oct. 26 edition of the Towson Times, I'd like to thank the Times and Mr. Rector for shining a light on the critical issue of housing and treatment options for the ever-growing number of community members with mental illnesses. Demand for services far exceeds the thinly-stretched resources available to agencies such as Prologue and Mosaic, which are two of the largest community-based behavioral health service providers in the area.

The Board of Directors of the Office on Mental Health/Core Service Agency of Harford County has announced the appointment of R. Terence Farrell as the agency's executive director. Farrell comes to the agency with more than 30 years of human service and mental health program management experience. He was most recently a private organizational consultant and prior to that was the executive director of the North Baltimore Mental Health Center, an affiliate of the Sheppard Pratt Health System.

Mental health advocates and labor union officials are calling for increased staffing and policy changes at the state's maximum security mental hospital — including a reassessment of how patients are paired as roommates — after one patient killed another at the Jessup facility last week. State health officials are still investigating the second killing of a patient at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in just over a year. Maryland Health Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein said in an interview Monday that the investigation will allow the state to determine if further precautions need to be taken at the facility.

The devastation of losing a house to foreclosure can lead to depression and a host of other conditions, according to the authors of new study who warn of a looming national health crisis. They are advocating for a new unified approach by financial and mental health advisers to provide homeowners with aid. The study, led by a University of Maryland researcher, found that one in five people in default on their mortgages have serious symptoms of depression. About one-third have seen their finances so crimped that they cannot afford to fill prescriptions and get enough to eat, which worsen health problems.

Three from Harford County were among the more than 1,200 people who attended a recent crisis intervention conference. The Harford County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) attended advanced training Sept. 14 at the International Crisis Intervention Team Conference in Virginia Beach, Va. More than 1,200 people attended. Officer Jeff Gilpin (Havre de Grace Police Department), Lt. Marc Junkerman (Harford County Sheriff's Office) and Shawn Dundon (Harford County/Sheppard Pratt Mobile Crisis)

Ruxton residents concerned about the destruction of the historic Hawks house were somewhat reassured by the new owner's plan for the property: He was building his dream home — a six-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot house with soaring ceilings — and planned to live there for years to come. But it wasn't long before the house on Labelle Avenue was on the market. And now members of the community say they are horrified to learn their new neighbors will be mental health patients in a high-end rehabilitation house run by Towson-based Sheppard Pratt Medical Systems.

Maryland's top health official said Monday that his agency would do all it can to ensure that scarce mental health resources are spent properly after a Baltimore Sun investigation into Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. uncovered the nonprofit clinic's large Medicaid billings and other concerns. "We will take steps that are necessary to be sure the public dollars are being spent appropriately," said John M. Colmers, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Waging peace may be more expensive than waging war. That is a shocking statement when one considers the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it may be an unacceptable proposition to Americans weary of our longest war and besieged by economic crises that seem to multiply weekly. The president has reduced the number of military personnel in Iraq, and he has vowed to remove all U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. One of the few issues that our representatives in government might agree upon is the need for expanded cost-saving measures, both domestically with efforts such as base realignment and in Afghanistan with planned reductions in funding for Afghan security forces.

Employees of the West Baltimore mental health and substance abuse clinic Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. have complained of bounced paychecks in recent weeks, and state health officials say they are monitoring to make sure patient care doesn't suffer as a result of low morale among the staff. Executives at the private, nonprofit clinic acknowledge recent financial struggles and say they have moved to resolve them, getting up to date on the payroll and negotiating a deal to sell and lease back a portion of the clinic's West Pratt Street campus.