By TANYA SMITH
Nearly 10 years after officials at Provo’s Timpanogos Community Mental Health Center took $3.5 million worth of public funds, another official at the Davis Mental Health Center in Farmington has received allegations of personally gaining over $100,000 by taking advantage of the mental health system and receiving excessive salary.
According to the Associated Press, the attorney general’s office is considering whether criminal charges are needed in light of the allegations against Russell Williams, Executive Director of the Farmington center.
“What we have been hearing about and reading with regard to Davis Mental Health’s executive director is extremely upsetting and disturbing,” said Meredith Alden, Director of the Division of Mental Health. In her presentation to the Human Services Interim Committee, Alden said that there will be changes in the monitoring process.
“I’m also concerned that there is a natural human tendency to remember what happened 10 years ago and equate this with the Timpanogos scandal,” she said. “I think the worst outcome of this would be to make improper conclusions and judgments about the whole public mental health system.”
Williams, currently on leave, was not available for comment.
An audit released on Nov. 17 alleges that Williams may have been overpaid as much as $29,500 in his salary between 1993 and 1996, and that the executive director made an extra $80,000 in his job during the same years.
The report indicated that Williams overcharged the center for his travel expenses, double charged some expenses, and was reimbursed for personal extensions of business trips.
According to the audit, Williams was allowed to bypass normal controls over travel expenses, such as preapproval of travel and documentation. The audit noted that the practices of Davis’ director were not representative of generally accepted practices in other comparable Utah organizations.
“The director is a top executive of a government-supported organization who should be setting the example of controlling travel costs,” the report read. “We question his motive and believe that his actions are potentially in violation of Utah’s misuse of public monies provision.”
John Schaff, the chief auditor of the report, also audited the Timpanogos center ten years ago. Schaff is currently the Legislative Auditor in the General’s Office.
“The Timpanogos incident really involved 14 people in the center,” Schaff said. “They took $3.5 million by making contracts to themselves, paying them for work that they didn’t do. And they also gained off of business trips.”
Schaff said the similarity between the Timpanogos case and Farmington’s case is that Williams also made a gain off of his business trips. “And also in Timpanogos, they also lacked board oversight, placing controls at the lowest Lakers of the state government,” he said.
Schaff explained that most of the funding for the facilities comes from federal funds, but oversight for the funds is usually placed with county and local boards. The local government funds about 10% of Utah’s community mental health centers.
“The management saw themselves as a private organization, rather than a government-funded organization,” Schaff noted about the Timpanogos management. “The management abused the idea that they were superior programs and services and could do what they wanted.”
Alden stressed that the Davis Mental Health services rated well in their clinical services, presented an excellent children’s mental health programs and dedicated staff. “The service of Davis Mental health should not be judged by the improper conduct of its director,” she said.
Alden said that changes will be made to tighten oversight in the programs. To do this, she proposed changing centers’ auditing firms every three years, distributing program audits to board members and county commisioners, and providing auditors with a list of “hot button” issues. These issues would request intensive review of travel expenses, independent board funding, and nepotism.
