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Show Statehouse Report . . . Social Services Regionalization Plan Set to Conserve Tax Dollars BY C. SHARP Regionalization of many kinds of services now provided provid-ed by the state took a forward step during the past week. 1 Implementing this program as conceived several years ago began with announcement that a four-county mental health program will begin on March 1 in' Grand, Emery, Carbon and San Juan Counties. Count-ies. This came on the heels of an announcement by Marion Hazleton, Monticello, . chairman chair-man of a four-county regional region-al board, that a public health program will begin July 1. Price - Moab Dr. Wilfred H. Higashi, State Mental Health Division director, announced that one team of 15 mental health workers wor-kers will be based in Price to cover Carbon and Emery counties and another of similar sim-ilar size will be based in Moab Mo-ab to cover Grand and San Juan Counties. Each team, he said, will include a psychiatrist, a psychologist, psy-chologist, two social workers, five nurses,' secretaries and other workers. Dr. Ray Cowley, former Utahn now educational director direc-tor of the Tuberculosis and Chest Disease Hospital at Mt. Vernon, Mo., is the new regional reg-ional public . health director, Hazleton announced. One-fifth of Cowley's salary will be paid by the Mental Health Division, so one-fifth of his time is to be spent in mental health work. Housing Shortage Higashi reported that a major problem in recruiting mental health workers is finding suitable housing. Both Price, now bursting at the seams to accommodate workers wor-kers for the new steam-electric power plant near Huntington, Hunt-ington, and Moab are experiencing exper-iencing housing shortages, he said. On Feb. 16 a Touche Ross & Co. study of the State Social So-cial Services Department was1 released. Tins recommends regionalization of services to provide maximum value to the public. The present Social Services Department was created in 1967 following in part recom mendations of the Little Hoover Hoo-ver Commission in 1966. This resulted in consolidation consolida-tion of seven divisions; Family Fam-ily Services (Welfare), Health Corrections, Drugs and Alcoholism, Alco-holism, Indian Affairs, Mental Men-tal Health and Aging. ' ' Four Institutions The department also administers ad-ministers the Training School at American Fork; Hospital, Provo; Industrial School, Og-den; Og-den; and Prison at the Point of the Mountain. Instead of achieving consolidation, con-solidation, each of the divisions divis-ions has insisted on maintaining main-taining its own services. Separate field services have resulted in a single family having to deal with as many as seven agencies to try to solve their problems. District human resources centers are recommended following fol-lowing the boundaries of the eight, multi-county planning districts already established by Gov. Calvin L. Rampton. Regional Centers As part of this concept, ail state agencies would be housed under a common roof or close together in both regional re-gional offices and satellite branches. Dean C. Nielsen, Salina, is chairman of the Six-County Region which includes Sevier, Sanpete, Piute, Wayne, Millard Mil-lard and Juab Counties. Marv Ogden, Richfield, is the executive exec-utive secretary. The Touche Ross study recommends re-commends that a district board appointed by the City or county commissions or council of governments shall have policy-making authority. The state would establish .policies and guidelines and develop goals within which the localities would operate. The governor would continue contin-ue to appoint the executive-director executive-director heading th edepart ment who would be responsible respon-sible to him. Merit System ' All employes would continue contin-ue under merit system as are county and state workers in these fields today. Touche Ross also recommends recom-mends apointment of a council coun-cil on human services to advise ad-vise the executive director. This council would replace the existing seven division boards which now serve to buttress separate divisional authority, the report says. Paul S. Rose, new Social Services Department executive execu-tive director, and his staff are not opposed to continuation, continua-tion, of the present division boards including the Board of Health. He told division board chairmen chair-men Feb. 18 that a mandate by both the Legislature and the governor requires an integrated in-tegrated and regionalized program. pro-gram. 2,486 Employees Rose disclosed that the department de-partment now has 2,436 employees em-ployees and an annual budget of $107.86 million, of which 52 per cent is federal money. Better service and greater efficiency are a must, he declared. The State Board of Indian Affairs Feb. 18 decided to appeal ap-peal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals from a Feb. 17 decision by Federal District Judge Willis W. Ritter on spending Navajo Trust Fund money held by the state. Ritter held that Congress cculd not legally take money earmarked for Navajos in the Aneth or Piute Mountain Extensions Ex-tensions and allow it to be spent for all Navajos in San Juan County. The board last year gave $100,000 from the trust fund to help build -the bridge across the San Juan River near Blanding. Ritter will not allow repetition cf such spending.1 |