INSTRUCTIONS
You are the executive director of a small publicly funded behavioral health agency that serves indigent clients. After 10 years of being able to serve all clients seeking help, your agency has just received a 20% funding cut and must prioritize which services to discontinue and which clients to turn away. The community has many suggestions: stop serving undocumented immigrants and their children; stop serving substance abuse clients; limit all clients to six sessions; discontinue providing expensive services like psychiatry; lay off professional counselors and hire non-licensed paraprofessionals; stop providing counseling and instead simply offer peer self-help groups and parenting classes; serve only the most seriously ill (or the least seriously ill); and serve only children. How would you approach the difficult task of cutting services by 20% in a manner that reflects your ethical obligations as a community health setting? How would you communicate this to your stakeholders? What are the ethical issues, privacy laws, HIPAA regulations, and boundaries to consider? How would you make a final decision about what to cut from your program?
ANSWER
Normally projects are set to run within a stipulated timeline, resources, and objectives. However, there are unforeseen challenges that arise resulting to cut the funding, meaning some objectives will not be achieved as planned. The questions posed are challenging to deal with but as a psychologists and researcher, you are prepared to handle any financial problem that may arise. Receiving a 20% funding cut means that most of the objectives will not be achieved completely….. To access full answer, click on the purchase button below.