My husband and I have been helping an “unhoused” friend. It’s been an eye-opener.
Our first task was to get this person to medical treatment. Drugs, booze and living outside – well duh, that makes a person sick, mentally and physically. Our friend was acting psychotic, and it’s really scary having a person like that in a moving car. When we were trying to get another friend to the hospital one evening he jumped out of the car at a stoplight, jogged off and leapt over somebody’s back fence, disappearing from our sight. We were eventually able to help that person into a happy lifestyle, so we decided to give this friend a chance.
We knew he would not be welcome at Enloe so we went to Ampla. Ampla doctors will see people who don’t have any address, don’t have insurance, and don’t have money. They sat our friend down, signed him up for MediCal and assigned him to a doctor. Things moved along smoothly, and he was in the doctor’s office within 45 minutes. After a brief chat, the doctor gave him a prescription to counteract the effects of coming down from booze and narcotics and told him to come back in within a few days.
And then we were on our own with this guy, who was rational one minute and hysterical the next. We were worried about the medication – we read online that the medication itself was habit forming, but we also noticed the effect it had on our friend. Within 24 hours – two doses of medication – he became himself again, a person we had not seen for about a year.
So we took him to our home for the weekend. We live in a very tiny house. We put him in our bed, because he was starved and sick, and we took turns sleeping on a cot and a pair of those self-inflating camp pads. I’ll say, the medication was like a miracle. For months, this guy had only been sleeping in snatches, drinking booze right out of the bottle to calm his nerves, and then doing drugs with people he didn’t even know. He was filthy and refused to take a shower – he said he was afraid of the shower.
But after one day on the medication, he slept soundly a full eight hours, woke up refreshed and cognizant, and wow – asked if he could borrow a towel. His hair had been unwashed for so long it fell out all over the bathroom floor.
We spent a pleasant couple of days having meals together and talking about the future. We helped him replace his driver’s license and sign up for Cal Fresh – basically, we just drove him to the assigned locations, which are spread out all over town. He was in the process of applying for General Assistance so he could get into a sober living arrangement with some friends who were also trying to get their lives back together.
Here’s the two mistakes we made: we let him talk to his user friends, and we let him supervise his own medication. I really don’t know what else we could do – you’re not allowed to hold a person against their will. We felt he’d stay with us longer if we trusted him, but that was short lived. His girlfriend, who said she was trying to help him, was still using, and as soon as he was out of our sight he was using again. We realized the woman had an interest in keeping him high so she could control him. She took and sold his medication immediately, telling us it was making him “crazy”.
So we finally had to do what all the experts say to do – we cut him off. We told him that as long as he was associating with his druggie friends, we didn’t want anything to do with him. God that was hard, I woke up at night wondering where he was, if we’d ever see him again – would we get another call from jail?
Here’s the surprise – he called us about a week later, we could hear his girlfriend swearing at him from the other end of the line. I’ve dealt with people on coke – I’d bet my last $5 she was on coke. He was sober, and he was asking us for a ride to a friend’s house, to help him move what possessions he had to his new sober living arrangement.
We were still kind of mad at this guy, wondering why we should get involved. He promised us he’d quit the drinking and drugs, and then bailed out acting as though it was all our idea.Then another surprise – my husband said, “Why not…” And I realized, this was no time to be proud or petty. This was our chance to get our friend back, and let me tell you, in times like this, friends are Gold.
So, we got him to the new digs, we talked to his also-struggling new roommates, we looked around at the dump he was moving into, and we pasted big plastic smiles on our faces and shook his hand. No, he’s not out of the woods yet. He has no job, he has food stamps and an ID, but his new roomies are expecting him to come up with $400 a month for rent. We don’t know how this story will end. I’ll keep you posted.
Here’s what I learned – neither the city, nor the county, with their huge budgets, will do anything for these people. The director of Butte County Behavioral Health refuses to admit that stable housing is the center of drug/alcohol and mental health treatment. Ya got ta have FRIENDS – you need supervision, you need a clean bed and you need three squares a day.
I don’t see Patrick Newman, or Charles Withuhn, or any of those preachy motherfuckers taking anybody into their homes, giving up their beds, or nurse-maiding a person detoxing off booze and/or drugs. If they’ve done that, they need to talk about it, because that’s the solution. It takes more than handing out food and offering an occasional shower to get people off drugs and into stable permanent housing. It takes a lot more than where you got arrested to make you a productive and positive member of the community.
So, that’s my experience, and here’s what I’ve drawn from it, and past similar experiences. The county and HUD need to step up to provide supervised housing for drug addicts and mentally ill people. When these people commit crimes they need to be committed to these facilities before they are sent to jail. And yeah, they need to be sent to jail – the atmosphere of lawlessness we are now living in will only perpetuate itself – it makes people fucking crazy.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Hi there,
While it is not clear who you are I would be happy to sit down and have a conversation with you about what Butte County can do as well as what treatment and housing resources we currently are building. You are incorrect in your assertion I do not believe in stable housing. It is absolutely a critical part of peoples lives. I do have an issue though for seriously mentally ill and untreated individuals with the housing first model which is predicated on offering housing and then later trying to get them into treatment. If you look at San Francisco’s housing first model at least 3 people die a week due to overdosing alone behind closed doors without supervision. Housing someone who refuses any treatment and without any supervision or oversight has resulted in numerous instances in the past where the apartment, hotel room, etc. has been damaged and our relationship with that vendor negatively impacted in that they won’t allow us to use them again. You may also be surprised at how many addicts we offer Residential Treatment or housing with treatment services at no cost who refuse to take us up on this offer.
BCBH, in partnership with CHAT, is opening Everhart Village (20 tiny homes) in 2 days with supervised housing for people like the ones you describe above who need it. A Sobering Center is also planned for opening this Spring as well as a 40 bed locked inpatient facility in Chico. Two Board and Cares will also be opening soon. There are many projects we are working on that you may not be aware of.
Rather than complaining about the County doing nothing I suggest you join us and partner with our team on how to best serve those most in need. We are also looking for people to join the Behavioral Health Advisory Board either a s a Board member or as members of the public. There we discuss all of the projects we have planned and also receive community input from people who have an interest in what we should be doing.
We also plan to begin to have community meetings to share upcoming projects, discuss legislation and how it effects BCBH and to hear from people with concerns, suggestions, and input starting in January in all 4 towns. You or anyone else are welcome to come to one of those as well.
Lastly, County Behavioral Health systems are facing a workforce shortage issue and welcome members of the community to come work for us and to be part of the solution.
Thanks,
Scott
Mr. Kennelly, my remarks were in response to remarks you made on the tv news, saying you wanted the money to go to better salaries for health and mental healthcare workers. You’ve said again on the news, just last night they played the interview, that you need more money for better salaries to attract employees. I think the salaries are too high. According to Transparent California, your 2021 salary was $151,385 with $26,107 in overtime? Your total pay, including $33,436.00 in benefits, $259,595.77 They list your personal pension deficit at over $22,000, based on the share you are currently paying. Is this true?
As for joining you, I’ve already been through this with your predecessor, Dorian Kittrell. He told me about the millions in transfers the county gets for taking “patients” from other counties and cities – other states? – and I think that needs to stop. You need to serve the resident population, but the county brings in patients for money? I’ve seen the transfers in agendas, I know it’s true. Kittrell admitted they got over $60 million one year. That amounts to alot of crazy people and even criminals brought into our community, and the first people they predate on are local unhoused persons, like my friends, both of whom were born and raised here. And they take the lion’s share of services. And yeah, they been bringing drugs that end up with local teenagers, don’t tell me that’s not true.
I’m sorry, I think the department is upside with big salaries on top and yeah, not enough rational salaries for the people who do the actual work. From the first time I looked at the Behavioral Health Dept. I saw that problem – all the money is going to management, and you just keep sticking your hand out for more.
For now I continue to help my friends as they need it, but you know what, I could use some help. My husband and I have been dropped by Cal Covered because our income isn’t high enough. When I went to the social services office here in Chico, the woman asked me where I got my income, and I told her, rentals. She said, with a giggle, “looks like you need to raise your rents!” She also told me that the financial minimum would go up every year, on a percentage. The next year it went up more than I feel comfortable raising my rents, so we’re without insurance right now.
You know that can’t go on forever. Here’s what happened – yesterday I was working on a ladder at my rental and it slipped – ever read about the death of Dwayne Allman? After I hit the concrete full sprawl, the ladder nailed me right in the chin! I had a knot on my head the size of a lemon, but go to the hospital without insurance? I’m not that stupid, I went home and put a bag of frozen spinach on it and took a Tylenol. Yes, today I hurt all over, If that happened to you, you’d be sitting in a hospital bed at my expense, huh?
Thank you for the discussion, excuse me for being kinda bitchy.
Hi Juanita,
Thanks for the response. My comments on the news about the need for increased salaries for the Behavioral Health workforce were only about front-line staff who do the direct work with those in need and not for me. I believe people in the healthcare industry are not compensated well enough considering how stressful and hard the work is. This is a problem Statewide.
Also, your statement that the County is taking in millions of dollars from other Counties is incorrect. While we do treat some clients in our inpatient hospital from other Counties, we do this as a courtesy when someone needs the help as well as because many of our surrounding Counties do not have an inpatient unit of their own. Those people, once stabilized, are returned to their County of residence and not discharged to the streets as some have incorrectly stated in the past. Here is some of the data on our Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) that I sent in response to your letter to the editor in 2019:
For fiscal year 2018/2019:
Distinct Count of Clients Admitted to PHF: 252
Of that group, distinct count of clients with Out-of-County Medi-Cal: 10 (3.97%)
For fiscal year 2017/2018, below is the frequency breakdown for clients admitted to the PHF:
Distinct Count of Clients Admitted to PHF: 255
Of that group, distinct count of clients with Out-of-County Medi-Cal: 12 (4.71%)
Lastly, I’m sorry to hear about your Cal Covered experience. I believe that falls under the Department of Social Services and not Behavioral Health.
Thank you for the dialogue. As I mentioned we will be having community meetings in all 4 towns. Perhaps I will get to meet you at one of them and you can ask any additional questions that you may have there.
Happy holidays.
Scott
I’m sorry, I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of dollars in transfers, several items on one agenda. Dorian Kittrell laid it out, how much per “patient”, per 45 day “hold” in the “puff”. This is a formal agreement with the state and other counties. These figures are compiled by people who directly benefit from the public monies, like you.
And I’ve seen you again at Everhart Village – that is a joke. You are grandstanding over housing what, 6 people? At what cost? You also didn’t answer my questions about your compensation – how much do you pay toward 70% of your $151,000+ salary, for the rest of your life? Your comp package adds tremendously to the cost of helping these people, and I have to wonder how much time you actually spend with patients. I’ll assume the people who actually handle the patients don’t get paid anywhere near as well as you do, and that’s the problem, that’s why we can’t get more qualified employees.
You’re spending way too much money for what we’re getting Scott. I’m sure you’ll have a happy holiday this year on your fat salary.
Mr. Kennelly, when you get a chance, come back HERE, where everybody can see the conversation, and let’s talk about all the budget transfers in Schedule A of the current Butte Co budget. Transfers from various other county funds, like the vehicle license fund, into BH for stuff like your vehicles and your offices? Remodels, upgrades, for management staff. I’d like to hear your take on that. Line after line, hundreds of thousands. I will look at the salaries again now – I’m going to guess that the staffers who work directly with people don’t come close to your $151,000+ base salary, but we’ll see. I think you are way overcompensated, I’m sorry. We could hire two guys for what we pay you. And you should pay more toward your pension, a pension deficit is not acceptable. So let’s talk compensation, because I believe this is what is at the bottom of the problem.
I also saw millions in “intergovernmental transfers,” totaling over $65,000,000. What’s that about?
Okay, here’s the link to the Behavioral Health page at the Secty of State’s website – GCC Butte County 2022.
https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Department.aspx?departmentid=1117&year=2022
Look at these salaries and benefits, and tell me your department is underfunded again. This site, which is actually run by the state, says you made $178,000 in base salary in 2022, for what exactly? Going to meetings? Press conferences? Meanwhile, yeah, the underlings who have to deal with the frontline stress are paid much less – about half as much as you are paid, with smaller benefits packages – and as management, you pay a smaller share toward the comp package, don’t you?
I’m pretty disgusted with you Mr. Kennelly.
Mr Kennelly, I just saw county supervisor Bill Connelly admit the transfer money on the news; saying “we” need the money. You came here and told me that my statement regarding those transfers was “incorrect ” – it’s in the budget, stop trying to tell us it isn’t true. You take patients from other counties (states?) for money. Just to fund your salary and benefits.