DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE: Tioga County Community Services Board

The Mission of the Community Services Board is to assure that the citizens of Tioga County have affordable access to services and supports which are necessary to assist them to be productive, healthy, caring, and contributing members of the community. Service recipients and other interested parties should play an integral part in the planning, development, and monitoring of the service system.

The New York State Mental Hygiene Law establishes Community Services Boards in every county. In non-charter counties (Tioga), the Board is a policy-making one. As such, the Community Services Board participates in and approves the plans which are submitted to each of the Mental Hygiene Agencies: Office of Mental Health, Office of Mental Retardation/ Developmental Disabilities, Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. The Board sets priorities for State Aid funding and recommends priorities for local funding to the County Legislature. It oversees the activities of the County Department of Mental Hygiene and its contract agencies

The Board works in partnership with various State Agencies: Office of Mental Health (OMH), Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (OASAS), and Office of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities (OMR/DD). The Community Services Board is responsible for ensuring that State funding is utilized to carry out the approved local plan and priorities. Planning and contractual relationships also exist with VESID and the Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives.

The Board works in partnership with the Tioga County Legislature and the human service community. The County Legislature appoints Board members to four-year terms and has responsibility for County Planning.

The Board is responsible for appointing the Director of Community Services. The Director serves as the Board’s Executive Director and also directs the County’s Department of Mental Hygiene. The Director is responsible to the Community Services Board for planning and programmatic management of the Department of Mental Hygiene and is responsible to the County Legislature for fiscal and personnel management.

Sub-Committees:
The Board has sub-committees that focus on the needs of individuals in the community with mental hygiene disabilities. The sub-committees are: Mental Health (MH), Alcohol & Substance Abuse (ASA) and Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities (MRDD). Each sub-committee provides oversite, planning and coordination functions for the County services system for each disability area.

Goals for the service system are set, system-wide plans are developed with the Director of Community Services (DCS) and providers, programs are monitored for efficiency and effectiveness, funding recommendations are made to the DCS and State agencies, and trends or unmet needs are considered as part of the ongoing work of the sub-committees.

Contact Information

Paula Guiles, CSB Chair
(607) 687-0200
paulaguiles@aol..com

Denise Brown , MH Sub-Committee Chair
(607) 687-0200
dbrown@rehab.org

John Crosby, MRDD Sub-Committee Chair
(607) 687-2957

Kathy Roush , ASA Sub-Committee Chair
(607) 687-0200
kroush@stny.rr..com

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