Mental health board stays true to its mission
Quality of life for mentally disabled people is the board’s mission.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Mental Health Board has experienced changes in the philosophy of care in the past four decades but has remained true to its fundamental mission of service to mentally disabled people, according to its executive director.
“The idea of community mental health boards was to establish a unified system of services, protect the liberty of mentally ill persons in the least restrictive environment and promote the delivery of cost-effective mental health services,” said Ronald A. Marian of the Mahoning County Mental Health Board. Marian spoke Friday at the board’s 40th anniversary luncheon.
In 1969, Mahoning was the second county in Ohio to pass a local mental health levy, following Cuyahoga County by only two months, Marian said.
Marian joined the board’s staff as assistant director in 1974 and has been its executive director since 1978.
Friday’s event, also held in recognition of May as Mental Health Month, was at the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitors Center at Mill Creek Park’s Fellows Riverside Gardens. Attending were about 125 people.
The board plans and coordinates tax-supported mental health services and administers funding for the agencies that provide those services.
In the board’s early years, a social work model of care prevailed, emphasizing teaching clients how to live independently in the community, with or without medication. The medical model came about as new medications became available in the late 1980s, making it possible for more patients to leave hospitals, Marian said.
About 13 years ago, the case management model began focusing on case managers ensuring the well-being of clients living independently in the community. In the last three years, the recovery model has encouraged clients to set and pursue their own educational and occupational goals with guidance from mental health professionals, he explained.
All of those models were designed to improve “the quality of life for those in need of our services,” Marian said.
The board’s efforts in local community mental health services took place as mentally disabled people moved from institutions into independent community living, and as the state closed most of its mental hospitals, Marian said. After the state closed Woodside Hospital here in 1996, the board began paying for indigent clients’ stays as needed at St. Elizabeth Health Center and at Forum Health Northside Medical Center, he said.
John Palermo, board president, recognized this year’s award recipients:
UAdvocate of the year award : Ellen Taylor, program director of the Family Service Agency’s rape information and counseling program for the past 15 years. Taylor, works with police departments, victims’ advocates and mental health service agencies to assist sexual assault victims. This award goes to the person who best exemplifies advocacy for people struggling with mental health issues.
UAgency director of the year award: David E. Arnold, executive director of the Family Service Agency, 535 Marmion Ave., for his efforts to develop and expand the agency’s programming to address the behavioral needs of the county’s families. The agency is celebrating its centennial this year.
UCrisis intervention training officer of the year: Detective Sgt. David Lomax of the city police department for his efforts in developing the county’s CIT program, which the board funds. The CIT program trains local police to intervene non-violently in situations involving mentally ill people.
UEagle award: Loretta Barth, a supervisor at the Mahoning County Community Mental Health Center, 1344 Fifth Ave., in recognition of her dedication and compassion in helping make the center a place where consumers of mental health services can engage in peer-supported recovery activities and learn to deal with their behavioral health needs. This award goes to someone who promotes positive change in the lives of consumers of mental health services.