Concerns
on the Quality of Service Rendered by Santa Cruz County Mental Health
To: Desiree Douville
President, NAMI-SCC
From: Simon Dangzalan
Member, NAMI-SCC
Dear Desi,
I hereby request NAMI-SCC to consider and initiate corrective action, if any, on a concern regarding the quality of service rendered by Santa Cruz County Mental Health Services on the following matters. Here is the background.
My son took his life on March 9th, 11 days before his 22nd birthday. He had been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia. The following day after the incident, I was asked by the SCMHS Head of Placement Facilities who is also in charge of Case Coordination, what they could have done differently that would have prevented this from happening. I said I would get back to them at a more appropriate time. I have given this a lot of thought in the past three weeks and have come up with the following assessment.
I believe my son took his life for the following reasons (not in any particular order).
1. That he agonized over the burden his illness has placed on the family.
2. That he heard voices telling him to end his life.
3. That he was depressed over his quality of life.
On the first item, there was nothing that anyone could have done to alleviate the situation and we accept all responsibility. However, my family was always prepared and willing to give him unconditional support over his lifetime.
On the second item, we wanted more involvement in his medication treatment plan and have asked if we could get my son a private psychiatrist. The response was that this was not possible under the rules governing someone under conservatorship. Mental Health Services should allow more family participation in a client's treatment. I believe SCMHS will be pleasantly surprised on how much families, specially parents, can contribute in the treatment process. But first, they need to truly believe in the basic concept.
On the third item:
(a) The 7th Avenue facility where my son was staying is so overcrowded, and this condition is the root-cause of specific facility problems such as excessive noise, bad smell, depressing atmosphere, and many others. I ask NAMI-SCC to take a look at what can be done to alleviate the overcrowding.
(b) 7th Avenue should review its programs and policies to assure that they are designed to provide the client with a sense of normalcy and a glimmer of hope that life ahead is worthwhile.
(c) SCMHS Case Coordinators should empathize with the client's goals, desires, frustrations, and to take into consideration the client's tremendous everyday challenge, and not be so rigidly fixated in following a generalized treatment program. All that my son ever wanted was to come home, but that wish always seemed so distant while every little infraction pushed it even farther away.
(d) The SCMHS treating psychiatrist should be more attentive and responsive to the psychological toll of the side effects of medication. My sons physical health and well-being has always been very important to him. His medication caused back pains, stiffness, involuntary movements, weight gain, and lack of energy. This caused him to be greatly frustrated and depressed. We had a very difficult time getting a meeting scheduled with the psychiatrist through the case coordinator.
(e) In August of 2001, my son punched a staff at 7th Avenue while being talked into taking his medication. Based on the circumstances 7th Avenue and the staff never considered filing charges. However, my son's Case Coordinator expressed a very strong opinion that the District Attorney should prosecute and that my son should be held "fully accountable". It is due to this opinion that the presiding judge felt compelled not to dismiss the case. The pre-trials got stretched out over eight months and everytime a pre-trial came up, my son became very anxious and extremely stressed. The Case Coordinator's supervisor was not going to take any action to try to get the case dismissed. My son took his life on a Saturday, at a time when he was very anxious and concerned about a pre-trial that was to take place that coming Monday. I have to believe that this event contributed to his
depression and his decision to take his life.
GENERAL COMMENT: Had the case coordinator and the assigned psychiatrist paid more attention to our concerns and observations, my son's quality of life and state-of-mind while undergoing treatment, would have been vastly improved. This is not to say that events would have been different, but we will never know. We knew our son for twenty-two years and had visited him almost everyday during the last five years of his illness. We were in the best position to observe his progress but yet our input over his treatment was not accorded adequate attention. The County Mental Health must take a long hard look at this general attitude and take the necessary action to allow parents and family to have a bigger role in the treatment of the client.
THERE IS ONE QUESTION I WOULD LIKE ANSWERED. Why did the Mental Health Services decide that it was in my son's best interest to support the prosecution over the August assault incident, when it was obvious that he was gravely ill at the time? Does Mental Health Services really believe that one who is gravely ill must be held fully accountable for his actions, especially on a misdemeanor? I would like to have a written answer from Mental Health Services on this matter.
Thank you for your attention and please contact me, should you have any question or need clarification. Should it be appropriate to elevate these concerns to the state level of NAMI in order to service to clients, I would be more than happy to follow it through. I am a member of the Santa Cruz County Advisory Board and hereby invite NAMI-SCC to make a presentation and propose action on this matter.
Sincerely,
Simon Dangzalan
Nami Santa Cruz County response
Eulogy to David Dangzalan
Born March 20, 1980 in Santa Cruz. His warm heart, caring
and sincere smile, and his proud and regal temperament was a blessing to us
all during his challenging and brief stay on this Earth. To his family, David
was a prince. A spectacular being with difficult obstacles unlike most people
could ever imagine. Through his struggles, one thing remained certain, that
his loved ones would always be at his side, guiding him, knocking down those
are barriers that would frustrate him to unbelievable levels. Although
David has moved on, the lessons of altruism and unconditional love under any
circumstances will remain with us until we finally meet with him again under
the kingdom of light, and his smile will once again fill our hearts with joy
and hope.
(Written by Dion Dangzalan, brother).
Note: NAMI-SCC has donated a Magnolia Tree to go in
front of the Santa Cruz Garfield Park Library with a plaque at the bottom
for David.
