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DCF investigates health care provider

A former employee and the NAACP allege that a mental health care agency discriminates against black patients.

By MARCUS FRANKLIN
Published August 2, 2005

The state Department of Children and Families has launched an investigation in to allegations of racial discrimination against African-American clients of a Tampa mental health care provider, a DCF spokeswoman said.

The Office of the Inspector General in the DCF began the investigation of Mental Health Care, Inc. last month.

DCF Secretary Lucy Hadi learned about the allegations from St. Petersburg NAACP president Darryl Rouson, who wrote her after receiving complaints from a fired Mental Health Care employee, Terry W. Cox.

Cox is an NAACP member and the husband of Trenia Byrd-Cox, who will become interim president in September when Rouson steps down.

Terry W. Cox has filed two lawsuits against Mental Health Care; both are pending.

The investigation is expected to conclude this month, said Zoraya Suarez, the DCF spokeswoman.

Sandra Tabor, a spokeswoman for Mental Health Care, said officials there were unware of the DCF investigation.

In his July 4 letter to DCF, Rouson wrote that African-American patients of Mental Health Care who had behavioral problems were being arrested rather than receiving support and care.

In addition, Rouson alleges in the letter, Mental Health Care staff used racial epithets and released African-American patients for not complying with treatment, apparently against legal treatment procedures.

"This behavior on the part of a tax-supported agency is unacceptable, inappropriate, and clearly not consistent with the mission of" DCF, Rouson wrote. The NAACP president threatened public protest if the allegations weren't addressed and suggested DCF withdraw funding to Mental Health Care if investigators find the allegations are true.

Mental Health Care's annual operating budget is $32-million, including about $13-million a year from DCF, said Tabor. The agency, which opened in 1949, provides outpatient and residential services for children and adults throughout Hillsborough County. It also provides court-ordered services and has a jail diversion program.

DCF officials said the allegations in Rouson's letter met their criteria to open an investigation: The incidents took place within the past 180 days or are ongoing and involve a DCF service provider, said DCF spokeswoman Courtney Heidelberg.

This week, Rouson and Trenia Byrd-Cox plan to travel to Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale to meet with state officials on the issue. The Inspector General's office conducts internal and external audits and investigations and monitors contracts to make sure DCF's private providers are meeting state and federal regulations.

--Marcus Franklin can be reached at mfranklin@sptimes.com or 727 893-8488.

[Last modified August 2, 2005, 02:45:17]