News

May 23, 2008

Psych-service fees concern state

Evaluation funding to be reduced

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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A state Welfare Department official warned Luzerne County officials last fall that the county was spending too much money on overly lengthy juvenile offender psychological evaluations, county Human Services Director Joe DeVizia verified Friday.

“He said that we don’t need that long of a report. That was his opinion,” DeVizia said. “He said we can’t afford to pay huge prices for psychologicals.”

Richard J. Gold, deputy secretary for the department’s Office of Children, Youth and Families, also told the county that the state will be reducing the percentage of funding for the evaluations, DeVizia said.

The state currently funds 80 percent of the evaluations, county officials say.

Frank Vita, the brother-in-law of Court of Common Pleas senior Judge Mike Conahan, was paid $1.1 million to prepare the psychological evaluations since 2001, county records show.

Court of Common Pleas President Judge Mark Ciavarella has said the thoroughness and length of Vita’s reports make him an asset.

Ciavarella deferred comment on funding questions to court human resources director Paul McGarry, who previously oversaw probation services.

McGarry said he never received any complaints or concerns from state welfare officials about spending on the psychological evaluations, other than a request a few years ago for more detail on Vita’s bills.

He said the state approves the budget for evaluations and the actual bills.

McGarry said he’s frustrated that critics are saying Vita doesn’t have to administer multiple tests on each offender. An undetected psychological problem could lead to juveniles being sent to the wrong treatment facility, he said, adding that it’s “not unusual” for a lengthy treatment to cost $90,000 to $150,000 per juvenile.

The county has been paying for Vita’s evaluations with Act 148 funding, which is a key income stream for the county’s Children and Youth division, DeVizia said. Act 148 funding has been “shrinking” in recent years, even though the county has to stretch it to cover child welfare services, including some children and youth caseworker salaries, he said.

County Children and Youth Director Frank Castano will have to find a way to make sure the expense falls below the state’s reduced reimbursement, whatever that is, DeVizia said.

He does not believe county officials would want the alternatives: using county tax dollars to shore up the difference or tapping other already-strapped funding streams.

“Whatever the state can pay is all Frank (Castano) is going to be able to pay,” DeVizia said.

DeVizia said the state continues to fund Vita’s psychological evaluations, but the clock is ticking for the county to come up with another lower-priced arrangement.

County officials plan to publicly advertise the work before July 1 – something that wasn’t done in the past – to determine if other psychologists are interested and, if so, what they would charge.

The county is also trying to get the psychological evaluations covered by medical assistance for juvenile offenders who are low income or meet other medical assistance eligibility requirements, he said.

Luzerne and three other counties have pooled their medical assistance allotments in a regionally managed pot, hoping to get a bigger bang for the buck when funding mental health and drug/alcohol services. This network is known as HealthChoices.

Providers have to be approved by HealthChoices to receive medical assistance funding. McGarry said he believes Vita has been accepted as a network provider.

To participate, Vita may have to accept reduced rates, DeVizia said. Also, HealthChoices may set limits on how much may be spent on each evaluation.

Vita charges $90 per hour and usually bills between 14 and 19 hours for work associated with each juvenile, his bills show.

The county probation office, which determines which clients are evaluated by Vita, reports that Vita saw 120 juvenile offenders in 2007, receiving $180,360 in payments for the year. He evaluated 40 offenders this year to date and has been paid $74,160.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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