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Peers say Cvetkovic is true advocate for kids with mental health problems
AUSTINTOWN
Greg Cvetkovic retired Thursday as executive director of D&E Counseling Center, which helps children with mental-health problems — those whom he calls “society’s invisible children.”
“Kids and teens don’t have much of a voice in dealing with their mental-health issues. They don’t cry out. They need organizations like D&E and others to advocate for them,” he said.
“That is one of the reasons I feel so strongly about the center,” said Cvetkovic, who worked there for 45 years including 40 years as its director.
The D&E Counseling Center is a private, nonprofit community mental-health center that provides comprehensive behavioral-health care to children, adolescents and their families.
Cvetkovic, 66, a 1966 graduate of Liberty High School, is being replaced by Joseph J. Shorokey, 53, formerly D&E’s clinical and program services director. Shorokey, of Boardman, grew up on Youngstown’s West Side and graduated from Ursuline High School in 1979.
Thirteen percent to 15 percent of all children have significant mental-health problems, but only about one-third get the treatment they need, Cvetkovic said.
Improving treatment for children and teens with mental-health problems has been Cvetkovic’s focus during his time with D&E Counseling.
But though he said the mental-health system has fallen short of meeting all of the mental-health needs of children and teens, he noted many improvements have been made over his four decades as one of the system’s leaders in Mahoning County.
For instance, Cvetkovic said the use of in-patient hospitalization was “quite common” into the mid-1970s as evidenced by Tod Children’s Hospital, which had a youth psychiatric unit.
He said a short-term in-patient stay then was 90 days, and longer-term inpatient and residential care was provided at state-run Sagamore Hills Children’s Psychiatric Hospital.
Now, Cvetkovic said, the state has basically gotten out of the in-patient care business for children; and long-term care usually is limited to 14 to 21 days.
There still are reasons for separating children from their environment for a period of time, such as when there is a risk to their own health or that of others or when there is a need to stabilize the situation or the effects of medication.
But now, the emphasis is on supporting children in their natural environment, with counselors providing intensive home-based treatment working with the children and parents to give them the tools needed to understand what’s causing their problems, Cvetkovic said.
Also, he said, children may require school-based and after-school support.
One of D&E’s efforts that Cvetkovic said he is most proud of is its in-school Linkages Program, which provides information to help mid- to late-teen students recognize the signs and symptoms of depression and other emotional disabilities.
Linkages was in 26 schools in Youngstown and Mahoning County during the 2013-14 school year, and D&E presented the program to nearly 3,500 students.
“Using Linkages, we work to reduce the mental-illness stigma that may keep a teen from reaching out and talking to us or other adults about their feelings and wanting to have themselves and their families seen by a mental-health professional or their school counselor,” Cvetkovic said.
Part of the program entails asking parents’ permission to administer a screening tool, the “Signs of Suicide,” to their children. During the 2013-14 school year, 900 children were screened, he said.
Another project of which he said he is particularly proud is Camp Challenge, the historically significant former Fresh Air Camp.
He said D&E renovated and upgraded what was “basically a wasteland” with funding from the Mahoning County Mental Health Board and other private foundation money, into a facility for children and teens with behavioral issues.
Cvetkovic said he was “most pleased in general” in having had a role in establishing the D&E Counseling Center as a place where people feel confident that they can get good service for children and adolescents.
“It has a reputation for caring about kids and delivering quality and effective care,” he said.
Peers describe Cvetkovic as a persistent and fierce advocate for children who knows how to generate funding needed for projects such as Camp Challenge and the Linkages program.
“There wasn’t any focus in Mahoning County on children with mental-health problems until the county mental-health board made it a priority, and Greg made it happen,” said Ronald Marian, who became director of the mental-health board at about the same time as Cvetkovic was promoted to head of D&E.
His advocacy for kids brought in a lot of funds from the state, which is very heavy on evaluations and always rated the program first or second in the state.
“Greg’s and the mental-health board’s ability to come up with money was the envy of the state,” Marian said.
“We had a few battles, but it was a pleasure to work with Greg. With Greg, it was putting together public and private money to get things done. He was very tenacious,” Marian said.
“Greg is a true advocate for children and families of Mahoning County,” said Duane Piccirilli, head of the county mental-health board and former longtime director of Help Hotline Crisis Center.
“I think his legacy at D&E will have a positive effect on mental-health services for many years to come,” Piccirilli said.
Regarding retirement, Cvetkovic said it is a “good time to pass the football” with the changes and opportunities ahead, such as the integration of mental and physical health care and the Affordable Care Act’s greater emphasis on wellness and prevention.
Especially with kids, no one organization can address all the needs that impact them. It’s going to require everybody sitting around a table and asking, “What can we contribute?” Cvetkovic said.
“It is good to have new leadership with fresh energy and vision to meet those changes and challenges,” he said.