Santa Barbara County’s Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services Department got a new name after a vote was taken by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, and department staff said the change is appropriate as the organization moves into a new area.
ADMHS, which has always been a mouthful, will go by the Department of Behavioral Wellness after Tuesday’s 4-0 vote, with Supervisor Janet Wolf absent.
Department Director Alice Gleghorn said that the renaming will help “establish a new identity for the department” and focus on resiliency and recovery.
“We see it as a hopeful and optimistic effort,” she said.
The department has undergone an extensive shake-up after a slew of audits, consulting reports and complaints that ADMHS was not serving people properly.
Extensive changes have been made, which Gleghorn has said reached every part of the department.
One of the biggest accomplishments has been the opening of a Santa Barbara Crisis Stabilization Unit, where up to eight patients can stay for up to 23 hours while receiving treatment and medication from medical staff.
The system is designed to intervene with people earlier, to prevent them from getting to the mental health crisis stage where they end up in a local emergency room or another restrictive setting.
A building has been purchased in Santa Maria for the same purpose.
Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam was pragmatic about the move to change the department’s name, however.
“A rose by any other name is still a rose,” he said.
“We want to be famous for our wonderful treatment and not the name. The dysfunction cries out for that, but let’s focus on outcome now that we’ve got that behind us.”
Gleghorn said that the name change was a needed step.
“This really does have meaning for the staff, and I’m all for optimism,” she said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
