Rescue Mission denies participation by individuals with need of mental health medications.
The former Director of women’s programs at the PCRM who is now running the successful Titus 2 program for women became aware of the PCRM rescue mission’s recent decision to not longer accept individuals into the Rescue Mission or Bethal Village programs. One need not be a mental health expert to understand that a large percentage of those in our community that have found themselves in need of services, have come to that point due to a variety of mental health issues. For an organization who’s very motto is to “seek the least, the last and the lost”, something as simple as recognizing the importance of industry established protocol for assisting those with mental health issues should be a most basic function within their organization. This is another sign of the fact that the PCRM is clueless as to how to offer solutions to our communities needy.
Below are comments that have been made by the former director of the women’s programs at the PCRM on her personal Facebook page:
The situation of the young lady being dismissed from Bethel Village because of being prescribed an SSRI medication for depression has been resolved by her acceptance at Titus 2’s residence. She will be admitted tomorrow. It was that situation that prompted my challenge here and elsewhere of PCRM/BV’s new policy of no “mind-altering brain pills”, as they reportedly put it. Obviously, there will likely be many more such individuals….men and women alike….seeking help in the weeks and months ahead. Sadly, there are too few accessible beds in our community for those seeking substance abuse recovery with dual diagnoses of depression and empty pockets. We need recovery professionals who understand and are willing to work with mental healthcare specialists to address the dual diagnosed depression/SA clients in our community. We also need to address the others needing recovery with even more complex mental health challenges. It seems the time may be right for some partnerships that actually address these issues holistically and with a multi-discipline perspective that includes all available community resources.
Irony of ironies that is duly noted:
Last March 7th-April 7th I was put on paid leave while the administration of PCRM “investigated” students’ charges that I failed to provide their medications to them which, by the way was not on my list of duties but was the responsibility of others. PCRMs newly “discovered” medication policy, of which I had never been apprised, was used to suggest that I was denying people their right to be treated for various medical conditions. I was acquitted of the charges (that were mostly trumped up by disgruntled individuals who disliked being disciplined or held accountable) and was returned to duty without even a reprimand in my file. And even though the Board affirmed that I had been productive and responsible in my leadership at BV, they left the decision of whether or not to retain me in employment to the executive director, who it appeared had determined after the first few weeks of his arrival to remove me any way that he could.
When I had a concern about a student’s medications, I would send a letter or call the healthcare provider to discuss the concerns observed, review the drug’s prescribing information, attempt to educate the student about the medication and help her see that the lifestyle changes and other tools we were giving her deserved a chance. On several occasions I have actually gone with clients in order to provide an observation of the client’s behavior or to be sure that they actually tell the doctor about their addictive history. (Deception and drug seeking behavior doesn’t necessarily end just because one enters a recovery program.) By doing these things one can observe attitudes about medication. This was generally only necessary in reference to ADDICTIVE MEDICATIONS WITH POTENTIAL FOR ABUSE THAT WE DID NOT WISH TO ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR ON THE PREMISES. In at least 1 case. a hired staff member, who had been in recovery for several years, had been fired for theft of students’ medication that the employee was able to get. And that was only one of several such instances of which I was aware. This has been an ongoing problem with inability to manage the security of certain medications and the reason that some medications simply were not allowed in some programs. Such concerns, however, are not part of the dynamics of treatment with SSRIs.
If individuals working with clients in addiction lack the knowledge and training to address such issues this is the kind of decisions that are likely to be made………eliminate ALL mental health meds and use religion as the reason. Not good mental health practice, not good recovery practice especially as demonstrated in studies with women, not good leadership, not even good religion. And this is just the opinion of a woman with a heart for hurting women who’s been there.
The truth about the "Panama City Rescue Mission" and your downtown Panama City, Florida 