Macon County Mental Health Task Force
Minutes – 02/29/08



Members present:  Ronnie Beale, Jim Bruckner, Robert Holland, Jane Kimsey,
Paula Ledford, Kathy McGaha, Mike Neidig and Andy Shields

Approval of minutes:	Kathy McGaha made a motion to approve the minutes. 
Jim Bruckner 2nd the motion, with a unanimous vote for approval.


Action Items:
Jane Kimsey passed out the draft of the Vision and Mission Statements for the
committee members to review.  
* Vision Statement - Healthy Community
* Mission Statement - Assure access to a comprehensive, integrated system of
care for the citizens of Macon County.
Sheriff Holland motioned for the approval of the statements.  Paula Ledford
2nd the motion, with a unanimous vote for approval.  Ms. Kimsey thanked Jim 
Bruckner for his work on these statements.

Ronnie Beale reminded the committee members that the Macon County Mental 
Health Providers Meeting will be held on March 7th from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM at
Macon Bank Corporate Center.  Jane Kimsey and Jim Bruckner will draft an 
agenda for this meeting.  Rhonda Blanton reported on the number of responses
received thus far for this meeting.  Mr. Beale thanked Ms. Blanton for 
arranging the catering for this event.

Jane Kimsey passed out the letter that was sent to Smoky Mountain Center for
the committee members to review.  Ms. Kimsey said a response had not been 
received at this time.

Ronnie Beale asked Sheriff Holland and Mike Neidig to update the committee 
members on the Jail Program.  Sheriff Holland said a meeting was held last 
Friday to discuss this issue.  In attendance were Sheriff Holland, Jim 
Bruckner, Steve Puckett, Rhonda Cox, Andy Shields and Brian Welch.  SMC 
stated that can not fund a program that’s not a Best Practice Model.  Another
meeting will be held to discuss a possible draft agreement and contract for
a potential program.

The committee members next reviewed several newspaper articles on mental 
health.  Mr. Beale had one article from The Asheville Citizen-Times.  Mr. Beale
stated that currently articles on mental health issues are being run in 
newspapers in Charlotte and Raleigh.  Ms. Blanton also presented several more
newspaper articles for the committee members to review.

Ronnie Beale next discussed the possibility of a meeting with consumers.  
The committee members discussed whether consumers would want to come forward
and discuss mental health issues in front of a committee.  The committee 
members considered different ways to get consumers involved and access the 
information they could provide.

Kathy McGaha asked the committee members to remember the committee’s mission
to assure access to integrated care.  Ms. McGaha reminded the committee members
of the following points:
> What services are needed in our community?
> Where gaps are in our community for mental healthcare?
> The need of providing preventive care.
> To support the community and provide the needed resources to prevent 
problems.

Sheriff Holland stated that he will be meeting with the school system to 
discuss the issue of the recent death of a middle grade student.  Sheriff 
Holland said they are developing a program to present to the community and
students on risky behavior.  Sheriff Holland stated he hoped all committee 
members would attend this program once a date had been set. (The date was 
set for March 17th from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM at the Franklin High School Fine
Arts Center.)

The next meeting will be held on Friday, March 14th.  The meeting will start
at 8:00 AM in Meeting Room A at the Health and Human Services Building.

Minutes recorded by Rhonda Blanton.