Eastpointe area director Ken Jones explains to the Duplin County commissioners the cuts in services that have become necessary as a result of state budget limits.
Officials with Duplin and Sampson’s local lanagement entity (LME), Eastpointe, for services to persons with a mental illness, developmental disability and/or substance abuse issue, are reporting that due to the cuts in their funding, they are forced to cut back services.
Ken Jones, Eastepoint director, shared the information during the Duplin County commissioners meeting earlier this week.
Eastpointe serves Duplin, Sampson, Lenoir and Wayne counties and handled 12,000 clients the last fiscal year, with total revenues of $26 million.
Jones provided information that showed that the agency’s budget, ending June 30, 2009, received state and federal service funds in the amount of $12.9 million. Local funding received was $1,.2 million with processing Medicaid adding $6,.5 to the budget.
In Eastpointe’s report, referrals by county incuded a total of 5,236 screenings. Duplin had 18 percent of its population screened while Sampson had 22 percent.
Duplin and Sampson had the lowest percentages of referrals, with Duplin having 758, or 14 percent, and Sampson with 1,044, or 20 percent of the total screenings done by Eastpointe.
Sampson saw 2,669 residents served and Duplin had 2,295 consumers served. Wayne demanded the largest service at 4,669 or 37.93 percent with Lenoir having 2,676 at 21.74 percent of its consumers served.
Those suffering from mental health issues totaled 9,767 or 79.35 percent, with clients suffering with developmental disabilities totaling 790 or 6.42 percent of the population. Those with substance abuse issues served numbered 1,752 .
Jones said the new fiscal year has brought with it service and funding cuts, 15 to 22 percent ,with an additional five percent to service funds. He reported that on the state level, there was a total budget shortfall of $4.5 billion which will result in a loss of funding for this year of $233 million; another $303 million is expected to be lost next year. He shared that major changes to Medicaid services would result in elimination of community support, residential services for children, a streamline of case management services and a reduction of five percent in Medicaid service.
For Duplin and Sampson counties it means that the following services and agencies will be impacted or eliminated. Duplin County will see an elimination of the children’s residential treatment services offered at Alpha Omega Health, Helping Hands Care Management Services, Life, The Lawson House, Tri County Youth Services, and Unique Opportunities. In Sampson children’s residential treatment services will be eliminated at 1st and 10 Group Home, Inc., Carolina Choice, LLC, SHSD, Inc. DBA Agape Group Home, Golden Opportunity Homes, Inc., Hope in the Carolina, LLC, Meeachin Treatment Facility, Omni Visions, S & K Gracious Living, The Lawson House, Trinity Will Group, and Visions Residential Healthcare Services.
Both counties will see elimination of community support services for adult and child mental health. That means in Sampson County Candii Homes, Coordinated Health Services, Easter Seals UCP-North Carolina, Peterkin and Associates, Professional Group Living, White Alternative Services, and Whitfield Homes, for adults and children, will be lost and Carolina Choice’s service to the children will also be eliminated.
In Duplin the following adult and child community support services will face elimination: Alternative Care Treatment Systems, Christian’s House of Hope, CNC/Access, Hope in the Carolina, Life, New Dimension Group, RASS, The Lawson House and Upscale Residential Care. Alpha Omega Health, Helping Hand Care Management Services and Tri County Youth Services will also no longer serve the children.
In an effort to help people cope with these budget cuts, Jones informed the commissioners that Eastpointe would continue having monthly provider meetings and will keep the providers informed regarding the budget cuts. The agency, he said, had sent letters to providers in June notifying them of the potential cuts to allow them to do budget planning. He also stated that Eastpointe is taking all suggestions on how to serve consumer more efficiently.
Currently no change in the following services have been affected explained Jones. Those seeing no change are respite, independent living, group living low and moderate, individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, psychiatric evaluation, medication evaluation, psychological evaluation SAIOP, SACOT, intensive in-home, multi-systemic therapy and emergency services.
For more information regarding mental illness, developmental disability and/or substance abuse issues should contact Eastpointe at 1-800-513-4002.
To contact Billy Todd, call 910-592-8137 ext. 117 or e-mail sigeneral@myclintonnc.com.
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