Testimony of mental health agency leader, whose leadership has frequently come under fire, raises

Testimony of mental health agency leader, whose leadership has frequently come under fire, raises questions about oversight


After years of state and federal scrutiny, the Department of Mental Health’s top executive took the stand in federal court Thursday to defend her agency, providing rare insight into the agency — and, possibly, ammunition for those with questions about her oversight of the state’s biggest mental health provider.

In testimony that pivoted between defending the department’s policies and blaming the state for creating them, Diana Mikula, the agency’s executive director, contradicted earlier statements from her top aides and avoided questions about finances and operations.

The crux of the lawsuit, which the federal government brought against Mississippi, is that the state treats its system of community-based care — long the federal standard — as an afterthought, relying instead on an outdated network of state hospitals.

At one point during her testimony, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves pressed Mikula to clarify why she and her top deputy, Steve Allen, had different answers for whether the state had developed a comprehensive plan, known as an “Olmstead Plan,” to shift patient care to the communities. Earlier in her testimony, Mikula told the court that the agency had an Olmstead Plan, made up of several different documents. But in his testimony two days earlier, Allen had said the agency lacked such a plan.

Read more: https://mississippitoday.org/2019/07/01/testimony-of-mental-health-agency-leader-whose-leadership-has-frequently-come-under-fire-raises-questions-about-oversight/