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Show I'SiittaB neaQtti Ooa To GDiscisss prill! P&'E3ems With Officials I'l'IOSELYN KIRK KINGTON - The ' t.u,my Mental Health I ijMerd is expected to j n this week with John Medina, former Utah Hispanic His-panic Ombudsman and Uarrell Kasteler, State Merit System Director, to discuss hiring problems which Davis County Mental Health Direc- tor Russell Williams said have resulted in the inability to hire needed personnel at the Davis County Mental Health Center. THE ADVISORY board acted to invite Mr. Medina to the June meeting to discuss the threat of a class action suit against Davis County based on the contention that Hispanic people have not been hired to fill administrative positions. Dr. Williams had said earlier that the mental health administration was unable to find qualified Hispanic His-panic people to fill these positions. He said the slow action of the state merit system sys-tem resulted in the qualified people being hired by other agencies before they could be approved through the cumbersome cum-bersome state merit process. Mr. Kasteler told a reporter from the "Davis County Clipper" that he will probably be on hand at the meeting to present the case from the point of view of the merit system, in a letter to the -Davis County Clipper. Mr. Kasteler said. "The Merit System is but one link in personnel per-sonnel activity. The system is perhaps, the most visible ol ihe links and therefore fair game to lay blame for all the problems in the chain. DR WILLIAMS said that the state hiring process is lengthy and time consuming and often slows down due to poor communication. Dr. Williams explained that a request to hire a county mental men-tal health employee must be processed through six agencies. agen-cies. First a request for hire is sent to the Davis County Personnel Department where, if approved, it is submitted sub-mitted to the Davis County C ommission before being sent to the Utah Stale Department of Social Services, the umbrella department under which the State Division of Mental Health is located. If approved, that request ihen goes into the state merit system process where it is. received at the Stale Personnel Person-nel office and processed and if approved must then be channeled chan-neled all the way back through the same agencies before the position can be Idled. DR. WILLIAMS said that ihe system needs to "be greatly simplified. There is so much duplication. The system sys-tem is not needed and is self-perpetuating." self-perpetuating." He pointed out that if the request is sent to the six agencies and takes live days to be processed through each agency that 30 days will have elapsed. Including a two day mailing lime between departments, at least a 42 day period will have lapsed in the process. Mr. Kasteler, in his letter to the "Davis County Clipper" suid that the time the documents requesting hire were in the State Personnel Office "was very minimal, in most cases less than two days." In order to prove this contention he made available .in elaborate logging system showing when all requests had been received and when processed. DR. WILLIAMS said, while the time spent in each office may be short, that the entire merit procedure is time consuming. con-suming. He said earlier that a on-day turnaround system is usually required. "The state personnel office is just one part of an overall process. I was referring to the whole process." According to Mr. Kasteler. ihe tunneling of requests through the Department of Social Services for approval is necessary for control so that all positions are authorized in conformance with the budget. AFTER THE position is approved, the request for hire goes into the merit system where recruitment, examination, examina-tion, and certification for hire are conducted in accordance with the Utah state law, Mr. Kasteler said. ' "It. begins with the agency in proposing the position, funding it, obtaining the proper clearances for its es- p LEASE TURN TO PAGE 2 Hiring Problems In Health Dept. CONTINUED FROM FRONT lublishment, making requests to obtain persons, acting on the names given it and ending with the hire." The Merit System task is to recruit, screen, examine, certify names and verify that hires jre made in conformity to the laws and regulations." IF A new position is being established, the law allows (hat the position be filled from promotion with the agency, transfer from another state agency, the rehire re-hire of a former state employee or the hiring of a person who is on a certified register, according to Mr. I Kasteler. In some cases, hiring registers were not available j lor the positions requested by Davis County Mental Health and had to be set up. This was the case in requests for a food service worker and a facility-ing facility-ing since some mode of competition for the position Is required he said. This competition can either be a written examination, an oral examination or be based on the education and experience of the individuals. Two weeks must elapse between the time that recruitment begins for the register and the establishment es-tablishment of the register. Mr. Kasteler said that while he has been aware of the legal action threatened by the lormer Hispanic Ombudsman, Ombuds-man, Mr. Medina and Manuel l-emandez, of the Governor's Council on Hispanic Affairs, the state merit system has not been involved in that conflict. Huwever, he said Mr. Medina had invited him to attend the Davis County meeting. IN THE interim, Mr. Medina has accepted another state position, but Dr. Williams said he has been notified that Mr. Medina will attend the meeting. Dr. Willims said he contacted con-tacted state merit officials over a year ago, protesting the length of time required by the state hiring process. A telephone call in some cases might speed up the process, and better communication is essential, he said. |