Mental Health Board won’t bail out Turning Point Counseling Services from ‘financial crisis’

Mental Health Board won’t bail out Turning Point Counseling Services from ‘financial crisis’

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Mental Health Board says it will not bail out Turning Point Counseling Services, which the board said is in “financial crisis.”

Turning Point’s spending exceeded revenue by $245,861 in the first six months of fiscal year 2013, which began July 1, 2012, and $508,682 over the five years before that.

Turning Point is a nonprofit corporation that provides behavioral health care and substance-abuse services for adults.

For fiscal year 2013, the mental health board allocated about $2.4 million to Turning Point.

The board unanimously adopted a resolution late last week directing its staff to develop a contingency plan, which does not include a “cash infusion,” to ensure there is no disruption of services to Turning Point clients should the agency fail to right its finances.

Turning Point needs better productivity by generating more clients per employee, said Ronald Marian, health board executive director.

“We need Joe [Joseph Sylvester, Turning Point executive director] to provide some leadership. The Turning Point board has a [recovery] plan I like, but there has to be leadership,” Marian said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.