The Seedling

The CEO of Magellan, the Regional Behavioral Health Authority for Maricopa County, is drinking the Kool-Aid. His level of denial is unreal. Magellan has been audited in the last few months and the results have been less than stellar. And he has the nerve to say things are moving forward? Really? Has he been reading the news? Did he look at the audit? Has he talked to consumers? or better yet, has he talked to providers? The consensus would be that the system has taken a drastic nose dive since Magellan took over from Value Options. When will we learn that a for-profit agency CAN NOT run a non-for-profit field. Mental health is not a money-making machine. I think I speak for a lot of us in the mental health arena here in Phoenix when I say that the end of this contract with Magellan can not come soon enough.

Dale Hausner, the man suspected of being the “Serial Shooter” here in the Phoenix area in2005-06, was found guilty in 80 out of 87 counts. Justice has been served. It doesn’t bring back any of those who he murdered or ease the suffering of surviving victims and families, but it is a salve of sorts. To know that our justice system worked and a serial murderer will be punished. Now we have to wait and see exactly what his sentence will be.

Working as a crisis counselor in the mental health field, I am well aware of the rampant prescription drug abuse occurring in our communities. In particular, teenagers are buying and selling drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin on school campuses to get high. Of course I want this trend to cease. But I am not sure I like the way Arizona is going about it. If you have a script for meds such as OxyContin, Amben or Vicodin, then once you fill it your name and other info is put into a tracking system. Then a doctor or pharmacist can look up patients to see when they last had a scripts filled for prescription meds such as Ambien and Vicodin to see if the patient is “doctor shopping.” I think this is a privacy issue and makes me very uncomfortable.

The State of Arizona wants to close 8 of our state parks because of budget issues. And the Director gets an 11% salary increase? Wha..wha..what? Are you kidding me? Where is the logic is this? If someone can explain it to me, I’m all ears.

A 49 year old teacher in Phoenix says she lured a 14 year old boy to a hotel room and slept with him to prevent him from sleeping with her goddaughter.

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the ground.

Are you kidding me?

How cold we not have figured THAT one out right away? I mean isn’t that the first thought any of us would have if we thought a boy might want to sleep with a young girl?

I can’t even fathom this thought process. Hmm… I think I may ave gone to the girls parents and said something. Just an idea.

Welcome to the world of a sex offender lady!

Well, all the talk and hype was for nothing apparently. Magellan made all these promises for a better mental health system in Maricopa County and said they would be better than Value Options. According to the yearly audit released this week, the promises were for not. The findings show that the county’s mental health system has actually regressed since Magellan took over in 2007. As a social worker and crisis counselor that works within the system 4 days a week, I am very distressed by this. We had all hoped it would be better. After a year it is only getting worse so that does not bode well for the rest of Magellan’s contract with the state. The audit calls for a complete overhaul. We’ll see if anything really happens.

A Tolleson, AZ school has seen enough tragedy already. Please, please let there be no more. First the students and staff were dealing with the news that over Christmas break two kids were severely beaten (and ultimately died from the injuries) while playing in a nearby park. Then after the school was back in session, another student was run over by a car while on his way to school and died. In approximately two weeks this school lost three students. I hope the school is utilizing all the resources it can in order to make sure the students, and staff, are able to process what has happened. They say things strike in three so hopefully the school has seen the end to tragedy. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Even after having over a week to digest what happened on I-10 two Thursdays ago, I still can’t grasp that a 24 year old man was hit by possibly 20+ cars. To the point that he was extremely dismembered and DPS does not think they will be able to gather enough…ummm..tissue to test whether the man was intoxicated.

In my world, once say the 3rd car hit him, traffic should have come to a stand still. I personally would have tried to block lanes if I had witnessed what had happened. They say it happened early enough in the morning, that commuters were going 75 miles and hour and rush hour had not hit its peak when cars would have been only going 35 MPH. No matter how you look at it, it is pretty disturbing. Incomprehensible, actually.

It’s possible that we will see a ballot initiative this November regarding the state trust lands. While I know where I stand on this issue, I am not sure that the majority of citizens feel the same way. We are still a society that think if there is empty land we must build. I hope that I am wrong and that if we do see this initiative, it passes without issue.

Wow! I had to blink rapidly and rub my eyes when I read that Phoenix is one of the flagship cities in th US to participate in this years Earth Hour. The concept is totally cool and well-worth it. But as someone living in Phoenix, it just seems too good to be true. I am very happy to hear the city wants to be more Earth friendly and to make changes to minimize global warming. We are int he desert here so we should be able to do way more to promote Earth friendly things such as say, solar energy. That way when it’s 118 degrees out, we can say “yeah it’s hot, but look at all the solar power we’re creating.” As for this event, I think it is a great statement to have downtown blackout for an hour. It makes a statement and I hope it is one that the citizens ill listen to. We use electricity like it is going out of style, without thought to the impact it has on the environment. Good start Phoenix. Let’s keep up the momentum.