no light on what is a tragedy waiting to happen at Heritage House, or whatever this so-called non-profit wants to call what was once an oasis for so many. These are not trained professionals, but young, and in some cases, licensed social workers in their early 20s. This is on-the-job training for most of that facility's staff, where few are served in my opinion. One young man of 24 boasted in mid-June that he had applied for the directorship and liked his chances. It was all I could do not to laugh, but he's probably right, despite most of the facility's "consumers" as they are called are twice his age and have a little, none, of their life experience.
You have those in recovery for substance abuse, how it was founded by Bryan Blew and Jerry Johnson. Blew was fired or resigned over a most dubious allegation (was the jury aware of this?) or that Johnson resigned to open his own religion-based treatment center in Groveland. Those are two major losses to the recovery community.
First it was a joint operating agreement with Mountain Crisis Services, which kept it afloat during tough times. Mountain Crisis now has its offices in the old Road House, a suspicious change and one not mentioned in the grand jury report. Now it is a Human Services dumping ground at Heritage House with the Road House evicting its mentally ill clients to fend for themselves at Heritage House, or more likely the Art Park.
While I have deep admiration for Chevon Kothari, she along with the rest in her department will simply will not open their eyes. How much time did a jury member spend at Heritage House? I saw one juror at a single Mental Health Board meeting, but I saw nothing about Kitty Hawkins' valid complaint certainly in spirit if not full letter of whatever code. I think in the desire for expediency, the complaint was easily tossed aside, but Ms Hawkins was right on many points, as per state law. She, too, warned of the powderkeg that is Heritage House, which I again openly agreed, The people who once regularly came are long gone, but their needs for support are gone as well, and kids who know nothing stand there armed only with good intentions. They work hard, but aren't suited for what they are tasked in many cases. I was there at least twice a week for coffee, but no more. It scares me, and not much in this town scares me. The wrong day is coming. You have a homeless population that does not belong there, period. Since substance abuse and mental illness are closely related, but I doubt many who work there know this, those two populations can work together, but not in its current state or confusion, which seems ongoing whenever I walk in there.
Overall, I was disappointed in what I did not find in the grand jury report: actual accounts from those being served or not served. Missing? I already know what department heads and personnel rosters look like and how they're likely to respond. Do you really think the CAO visited the place? There was nothing about the experience of spending even half a day there, and isn't that really the heart of the matter? This absence of serious fact-finding of a broken system, to me means the grand jury failed in its mission statement. Miserably. I hope Judge Fagalde has the spine to reject this part of the report and demand to know more.
Please forward this to all members of the grand jury, this one and one to be sworn in next week, the judge, and anyone else who wants what is most certainly a biased opinion. I'm biased as hell toward those in need. They're here, and they're not being served. They're being stored. Did the grand jury think to consider the number of new cases that go no further than a single visit? Or that the so-called psychiatric staff, he's the guy on TV, routinely fails to contact people when they miss an appointment. According to your report these are severely mentally ill people, are they being served? As long as they're not in a delusional fugue from bipolar and need help, then the system works fine. Far too little attention was given to a crisis in this small town. See it before we all regret what happens.
Respectfully,
Bob Linneman
Mariposa resident and one who suffers mental illness
