Salem Missouri, psychiatric hotbed
The Salem Missouri News reported June 25 that staff at a Department of Mental Health (DMH) contractor, Enrichment Services Inc. (ESI) located in Salem (125 miles southwest of St. Louis,) took developmentally disabled consumers to adult establishments for sex entertainment and gambling.
While the DMH insisted that no patient abuse occurred, they did admit that this was inappropriate behavior and that if such trips continued the provider’s contract would be cancelled.
So, another mental health care provider gets away with inappropriate behavior. No discipline, just a warning. “The legal standard for abuse or neglect could not be met,” they said, while at the same time bemoaning the fact that taxpayer dollars were used for the offense.
Meanwhile, everyone is so pleased that the DMH took such a strong stand against inappropriate behavior with their mental health care consumers. (That was sarcasm; sometimes my sarcasm if not stated as such does not completely come through in an email.)
Such treatment of those under the care of the Department of Mental Health is never help; it is a betrayal in the guise of help, and an all-too-frequent occurrence in the mental health industry. Psychiatrists and psychologists cannot be allowed to continue to determine the standards of conduct in any society.
Patients, their families and guardians, should be provided written information on their caretakers’ professional standards and informed that any behavior outside those standards is inappropriate and subject to discipline; and that “patient consent” is not a defense. Any patient, or their family or guardian, who is subjected to such inappropriate behavior should file a complaint with the Missouri Office of Constituent Services at 800-364-9687 or email constituentsvcs@dmh.mo.gov with a copy to the local police department.
If you are so moved, please express your concern to ESI, the Dent County Developmental Disabilities Board, the Missouri Association of County Developmental Disabilities Services, the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and the Salem News.
[All emails here for convenience: constituentsvcs@dmh.mo.gov; enrichmentservices@embarqmail.com; sb40board@embarqmail.com; leswagner@macdds.org; Keith.Schafer@dmh.mo.gov; salemnews@thesalemnewsonline.com]
Click here for more information about psychiatric sexual misconduct.