County seeks ideas on mental health programs for tribes

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer
New money available to provide service to various communities | Sunday, February 24, 2008 12:18 AM PST ∞

San Diego County health officials hope to gather information about what mental health programs are needed at local American Indian reservations during a meeting Tuesday in Rancho Bernardo.

That was good news to several North County tribal leaders contacted Friday. They said they welcomed the invitation to a dialogue on much needed services.

For years, tribal leaders have said that their communities have been forgotten by health officials from the federal level on down. The absence of health care programs have led to high incidences of illnesses, such as alcoholism and drug abuse.

A federal study in 2005 found that primary care services were not always available to tribal communities, in part because of geographic isolation and a lack of resources.

Most North County tribes rely on the Indian Health Council at the Rincon Indian Reservation for medical services. Public grants, private donations and money from Indian gaming help fund the clinic, which serves about 15,000 clients a year. But more resources are always welcome, officials said.

"Funding is a big issue," said Pala Chairman Robert Smith, one of the leaders who said he was unaware of the county meeting.

Smith said that more money from the state "would be a big plus."

Help may soon be available though the county, which is about to get an influx of nearly $16 million in tax revenue from the state for new mental health programs. The money is directly for some segments of the community, including military families and Indian reservations.

The money comes from 2004's Proposition 63, a voter-approved 1 percent tax on millionaires' annual income to fund new mental health care programs.

On Friday, the director of the county's adult and children's mental health departments, Alfredo Aguirre, said the emphasis of Tuesday's meeting will be on tribal communities, and will focus on ideas for prevention and early intervention programs.

It will be up to tribal leaders and tribal health care providers to bring forth specific ideas on services that are most needed, he said.

"That's why we're having the meeting, we want to see what their needs are," Aguirre said. "They may suggest that we do better follow-up services, provide better screening tools for their elders to detect depression, but we don't know that."

Romelle Majel-McCauley, the Indian Health Council's chief executive officer, said follow-up care would be a valuable addition to the clinic's array of services.

"We have a lot of programs (to combat) domestic violence, to mentor the youth, anger management, mother and daughter programs," Majel-McCauley said. "One of the things that (patients say) they need is after-care programs, such as clean and sober follow-up to help you maintain your sobriety."

Aguirre acknowledged that it has been difficult to get the word out to members of the community, particularly among Indian tribes. But he said that the county has formed a working group of Indian health officials to cast as wide a net as possible.

He said the county may schedule more meetings to invite tribal members' participation.

"We're strangers in certain communities," Aguirre said. "They need to help us."

Tuesday's workshop will be held at the Radisson Suite Hotel in Rancho Bernardo, 11520 W. Bernardo Court.

On Wednesday, another workshop at the North Coastal Regional Center, 1701 Mission Ave. in Oceanside, will solicit ideas for programs to serve people with "co-occurring disorders," which Aguirre described as problems such as substance abuse, in addition to mental illness.

For more information on these workshops, contact Debra Fitzgerald at (619) 563-2753 or debra.fitzgerald@sdcounty.ca.gov, or Ann Zellers at ann.zellers@sdcounty.ca.gov or (619) 563-2772.

People unable to attend the forums may provide their input online at www.sandiego.networkofcare.org.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

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