At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County (CMH) Board discussed possible revisions to its contract with its CEO, Kristine Kirsch. The changes, which Kirsch proposed to the board after reviewing them with CMH’s attorney, primarily involve putting her existing benefits into writing.
Doing so would make her contract reflect the contracts that govern employment for CMH’s salaried managers and staff, Kirsch said. The revisions do not impact the board’s financial obligations to her in any way, Kirsch said, but instead confirm benefits that she is already receiving, including health and retirement benefits as well as factors governing time off such as accrual rates and caps on accumulated days.
During discussion on the contract, Kirsch also said she has been talking with the union governing staff contracts about the possibility of merging vacation and sick days. Board members discussed the advantages and disadvantages of that idea but did not take action.
Kirsch said she wanted to “get everybody on the same page and not have disparities in our same agency.”
After an initial motion was made in support of the proposed changes to Kirsch’s contract, the board voted to table the matter until the next regular meeting so members could take the time to review the changes and ask further questions.
Outgoing Finance Director Thanked
Board member Rick Shaffer was echoed by others in expressing gratitude to recently retired Finance Director Jill Brindley for her service to the organization. “I want to thank Jill for the wonderful rebound,” Shaffer said, recognizing the work she performed to put the organization into stronger financial condition than it was in when she started.
Internal Reports Discussed
Compliance Officer Jarrett Cupp briefly discussed ongoing internal compliance reviews. He said there have been two internal reviews of staff conduct, and that one of those reviews resulted in a resignation.
Board members also discussed results of the organization’s semi-annual Recipient Rights Report, which details numeric indicators of alleged mistreatment of the agency’s clients and patients. The report indicated five interventions and 15 investigations, including investigation of three sexual harassment claims. Two of those claims were substantiated, while a third did not have enough evidence to do so. Board conversation suggested that false allegations can be common in a mental health treatment environment.
Staff reported a total of 25 abuse allegations, which it said was “a little on the high side.” There has been a slight overall decline in abuse allegations since the pandemic situation began, but staff said they “expect that to boil over soon.”
Contracts, Banking Measures Approved
CMH board members approved several finance-related measures at Tuesday’s meeting, including a change to the agency’s bank signature card to reflect staff changes, addition of several other names to the agency’s bank accounts, and several items related to expenditures.
Finance Director Cameron Bullock requested clarification on procedures having to do with how grant monies are spent. Bullock is currently administering a prevention grant which funds around $18,000 in supplies and was previously approved and budgeted by the board. Under regular circumstances, staff administering the project are authorized to spend up to $5,000 at a time on budgeted purchases without board approval, but some grant expenses are as high as roughly $8,000.
Since the grant budget is previously approved, Bullock asked the board to confirm whether staff should seek approval individually for such expenses, or whether the blanket approval of the grant budget would suffice. The board voted in favor of authorizing staff to make previously-budget large grant purchases without further approvals.
Tuesday’s votes authorized several expenditures and contracts. These included an $8,000 purchase of 400 workbooks using unspent funds from a prevention-related grant awarded by Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health. They also included two, one-year contract extensions with existing service providers. One contract was with Dr. Gagandeep Singh, a psychiatrist, at $166.66 per hour for 30 hours per week. The other was with the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District for an Intensive Crisis Specialist in the schools at $90,180 per year.
Dave Vago is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
