Agenda - 03-13-2007-9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange Person Chatham Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Authority Local Business Plan 2007 - 2010 Executive Summary Since submitting its original local business plan (LBP) in December 2002, Orange Person Chatham (OPC) Area Program has undergone a series of significant changes in order to position itself as a strong Local Management En#iy;,(LME) in North Carolina. OPC has divested its service programs and reorganized-'its internal structure to fulfill the primary functions of an LME as outlined in North Carolina` General Statute § 122C- <,.. 115.4. OPC is now a manager of services for the catchment area; arid, our primary goal is to assure the provision of quality public mental health, developmenfial disability and substance abuse services to the residents of our communities. ~`~ -__,_,~~ OPC Area Program is comprised of Orange, Person, and Chatham Counties, which has a combined population of 219,384 residents. OPC's three counties are culturally, economically, and geographically diverse as described below. In Orange County, Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina, is a university town with extensive medical and research faeil~ties.,. Although highly educated and above average in income, the commurnty~, is very socio-economically different. Rural northern and western Orange, while containing many ~Cfiapel Hill oriented people, also houses farming and working class communities. As is true in the other two counties, transportation obstacles make community services difficult. Orange County continues to have a growing permanent Latino population that is underrepresented in the utilization of mental health, developmental disabilities and/or substance abuse services. Person~Gounty is the lowest of the three counties on most socio-economic indicators and ,is largely rural. , Its~.are large town, Roxboro, is centrally located and serves as the hub`~fo~`~most services in the county. Person County .has a large African-American community~,vvith special needs requiring a high level of cultural competence. Person County has f~vver privater~agencies than our other counties, but county government is strong, as is the presence of Person Memorial Hospital. The Latino community .is underrepresented in the service system, but is also more migrant in nature and harder to reach. G Chatham County is geographically the largest county, very diverse on most measures, and difficult to serve efFiciently. Northern Chatham is considered an extension of Chapel Hill, with upper-income retirement communities, while western Chatham is more working class with an agricultural and small scale manufacturing economy. Western Chatham is politically and socially different than eastern Chatham, and in eastern Chatham, the north and south are distinctly different. Pittsbaro in the east and Siler City ` OPC currently operates a TASC program and provides regional Deaf Services.