Modesto Mental Health Agency To Close Because of Budget Cuts
State budget cuts will cause a Modesto mental health clinic serving about 250 people in Stanislaus County to close on June 30, the Modesto Bee reports. The 75 full- and part-time employees at the Stanislaus Integrated Service Agency provide 24-hour-a-day psychological rehabilitation and outpatient services, including counseling and assistance with clothing, food, housing, jobs, transportation and obtaining prescriptions and other medical services. But fiscal year 2003-2004 budget proposals currently before the Legislature do not provide funding for the mental health clinic, according to Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Director Dan Souza. John Buck, president of Turning Point, the private Sacramento-based firm that has run the agency since 1999, said, "We're proceeding with closure plans." Linda Lecount, a nurse at the clinic, said the agency's clients "are people who are stable because of the services we provide." However, such stability "could be jeopardized" for some when the clinic's closure forces them to change counselors and caseworkers, Souza said, adding that the county will try to "ease the clients through the transition to other facilities" in part by encouraging patients to have made at least one visit with a new provider by June 30 (Jardine, Modesto Bee, 4/4).
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