City of Berkeley Department of Health and Human Services Mental Health Division Administration 2640 Martin Luther King Jr. Way Berkeley, California 94704 TEL: (510) 644-8562 × FAX: (510) 644-8818

May 9, 1996

Andrew Phelps
2917 Garber Street
Berkeley, CA 94705

Dear Andrew:

I’ve given considerable thought to your proposal for volunteer status. At this time, however, I would like to limit your volunteer activity at Berkeley Mental Health to your work on the Outcomes Committee. As a Mental Health Commission committee, I think it has broken new ground by having line staff work directly with commission members. Obviously, the topic of critical interest to both the agency and the commission, and the model, one of partnership, is something we need to expand by bringing consumers and the public into other structured planning and evaluation activities.

You mention a number of current or pending projects as well as several ideas for future projects for yourself, or perhaps others, who may wish to make similar proposals. I think your commentary on accountability is important and needs to be thoroughly considered as Berkeley Mental Health evolves into a different type of mental health agency. While “Partnership” is not only a state mandate, but also makes good service sense, it’s not a simple proposition. I think BMH, like the entire state, has been and will continue to be, in an experimental period with regard to the development of a client/family driven system. Your relatively unrestricted access to resources here for the past few years has, in my opinion, been a mixed bag. I am glad to have supported a significant amount of statewide client organizing and other activity, however, nothing comes without a price. At this point, I’d like to see the agency and the commission call time out and thoroughly assess how to most effectively support future partnership initiatives.

I realize that this decision may seriously hurt some of your work with the CALM Boards, CNMHC and in other areas and hope that you will be able to find other resources to support these activities. I welcome your response to this letter and would be glad to sit down and discuss my decision in more depth.

Sincerely,

/s/

Harvey Tureck
Manager of Mental Health Services

cc: Emmett Jones