BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE DIVISIONAL MANAGEMENT

PROGRAM MISSION: To provide leadership and management to divisional programs that promote recovery, independence and community integration for adults with serious mental illness and substance abuse problems.

In FY 2005, the Behavioral Healthcare Division staff finished the implementation of a new organizational design. The new design grew out of a review of all division programming and focused on ensuring that services are organized according to best practice models and in the most effective and efficient manner to meet the needs of the individual populations served. The intent of the reorganization was to provide a more responsive and collaborative model for mental health and substance abuse services. The new structure resulted in the creation of separate reporting units for psychiatric services and dual diagnosis, which is programming for those individuals with both serious mental illness and substance dependence.

The new structure also impacted the Behavioral Healthcare Division Management by transferring the community outreach and education program from Substance Abuse and by creating a business office, which assists with scheduling client visits, completing client financial forms, and documenting privacy and client rights. The Compliance Unit, which ensures compliance with regulatory bodies for all CSB programs throughout the Department of Human Services, continues to be part of Behavioral Healthcare Division Management.

The objective of divisional management is to provide leadership for services in the context of the County vision and departmental mission, effectively manage divisional resources, ensure compliance with all local, state, federal and grant requirements, provide information technology and management support for management information systems, assess needs and evaluate performance, and ensure collaboration with community partners, vendors, and individuals and their families. An important function of divisional management is to provide staffing support to and implement the policies of the Arlington Community Services Board (CSB), an 18 member board appointed by the Arlington County Board as required by the Code of Virginia. The CSB provides oversight to all mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services in the Department, regardless of what division the service is provided in, and the Behavioral Healthcare Division Chief serves as the Executive Director for the CSB. Divisional management also serves as the liaison between the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) and the related programs in the Department of Human Services.

The following chart provides a summary of the budget for the Behavioral Healthcare Division with expenditures shown by broad program.

Behavioral Healthcare Divisional Management consists of four areas: general administration (Division Chief, Administrative Officer, Administrative Assistant, Accounting Assistant, and a Management Specialist); Compliance (8.0 FTE); Community Outreach and Education (1.0 FTE); and the new business office (3.0 FTE). The budget for Divisional Management includes expenditures that directly support the programs of the division, but are budgeted centrally in administration and not allocated to the program level, such as rental and repair of buildings; automation; and security.

SIGNIFICANT BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS:

• The decrease in FTEs (0.6) is due to the net result of transferring 1.0 FTE out to the Automation Services Bureau in the Director's Office/Planning and Administration and a 1.0 split out between the Director's Office/Planning and Administration, and Aging and Disability Services, and transferring 1.4 FTEs in to Divisional Management from Substance Abuse for Community Outreach and Education (1.0 FTE) and the centralized "front door" services (0.4 FTE).

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

• The large increase in the percent of budgeted third party reimbursement revenue received during FY 2004 was due to higher than anticipated Medicaid State Plan Option revenues. The FY 2006 budget includes higher Medicaid State Plan Option and Medicare revenues.