Who says there is no money in being non-profit?
Take the agencies working with Southern Arizona's mentally illand alcohol- or drug-addicted populations.
They will share roughly $250 million in public funds next year.Their directors are among Tucson's best-paid executives.
And some of those same directors who run the agencies that willreceive the money also sit on the board that decides how thosepublic funds are divided up.
Such cross-pollination is a bit unorthodox, those in SouthernArizona's behavioral-health community acknowledge. But they - andoutside experts - say there are enough checks and balances to keepthe behavioral-health business in Southern Arizona on the up and up,and maybe even a model for the state.
Neal Cash, president and CEO of the Community Partnership ofSouthern Arizona, said the six-figure agency-head salaries areappropriate for health-care executives who oversee networks orhospitals.
'These are very large, complex community health organizations,'said Pat Benchik, president of COPE Community Services. 'I believeyou will find we are not overpaid,' compared to the heads othermajor health institutions.
Arizona has designated five regional behavioral-health agenciesto oversee federal and state funds for the severely mentally ill orsubstance-addicted.
The non-profit Community Partnership of Southern Arizona wascreated 12 years ago to be the clearinghouse for Pima, Cochise,Graham, Greenlee and Santa Cruz counties. Nearly 51,000 peoplereceived services from agencies funded by the partnership.
The CPSA was created by some of Southern Arizona's largest social-service agencies because its predecessor was struggling with debt.
Agencies such as COPE, La Frontera Center and CODAC BehavioralHealth Services feared a for-profit company, which would not putprofits back into services and agencies, would bid to become thearea's regional authority, as has happened in three of the state'sother regions.
'CPSA would be viewed as one of the more successful mental-health systems,' said Brint Milward, a professor with the Universityof Arizona's School of Public Administration and Policy. 'It's aninteresting model. Nobody has an incentive to bid against the otherbecause they are all part of the system that they have created.'
The CPSA was founded by three groups: a conglomerate of PimaCounty's behavioral-health providers known as the Behavioral HealthCoalition; Tucson Medical Center; and Benson-based SoutheasternArizona Behavioral Health Services, which was the behavioral-healthauthority for Southern Arizona's four rural counties.
Each of those three groups appoints five directors to the CPSA'sboard.
While none of the groups represents a majority, such a dynamicleads to cross-pollination, in that board members work for agenciesthat receive CPSA funds.
For example, for the 2005-06 fiscal year, Southeastern ArizonaBehavioral Health Services received more than $25 million from theCPSA. Southeastern's executive director, Dana Johnson, sits on theCPSA's board.
Another example is Fred Chaffee, chief executive officer ofArizona Children's Association, who is chairman of the CPSA board.
The Children's Association is one of two partners in PantanoBehavioral Health Services, which got more than $15 million from theCPSA in fiscal 2005-06. Pantano Behavioral Health then passed nearly$4 million of that to the Children's Association.
Cash said that on the surface one could look at such dynamics andget the perception of a conflict from board members awarding fundsto their own agencies.
What the arrangement really reflects is, 'the business is prettyspecialized,' he said.
He noted the board does not perpetuate itself. Members areappointed by the three founding groups. Moreover, he said, no grouphas a majority of votes, and there are board members who are notconnected with any behavioral-health agency.
'Everybody's interest is a minority interest,' said Benchik,president of COPE and a key figure in the CPSA's creation.
The current setup allows the CPSA to put more money into servicesbecause there is no pressure on the umbrella group to make a profit.
Cash said that this year, the CPSA took $2 million from itsreserve funds and cut $2 million from its own $11 million inadministrative costs rather than cut services.
With recipient agencies holding long-standing seats on the CPSAboard, Cash was asked whether the potential exists forinstitutionalizing service providers such as COPE and La Frontera,which received a combined $50 million from the CPSA in 2005-06.
He said he doesn't think so, noting the agencies were alreadyestablished in the community long before the CPSA, and the CPSAcontracts with numerous other, smaller agencies.
Still, the CPSA doesn't always put its contracts out to bid,opting instead to give money to the major agencies it has been doingbusiness with, which may then subcontract.
This is done, Cash said, because the behavioral-health system inSouthern Arizona is already established and there are no othercompeting agencies.
For example, he said, a few years back the CPSA solicited bidsfor a new substance-abuse treatment provider. But the onlyorganization to bid was the current provider, Compass Health Care.
'If we were to lose any of these provider networks for theservices, there aren't any people lined up waiting in the wings,' hesaid. 'It's not in our best interest to re-procure.'
Milward, the UA professor, said there are some issues with thestructure of the CPSA, but there are issues with everyorganizational structure; and any problems, or perceived problems,are relatively minor, particularly when compared to theorganization's strengths.
'Every system you can devise has strengths and weaknesses,' hesaid, adding that the CPSA has managed to bring continuity toSouthern Arizona's mental-health system by being vested in itsproviders. 'They bound the hands of the leading providers by makingthem part of CPSA.'
Where the money goes
The top-five recipients of CPSA funds in 2005-06
Recipient Funds Received
La Frontera Center $31,419,944
Southeastern Arizona Behavioral Health Services $25,160,521
COPE Community Services $18,944,791
CODAC Behavioral Health Services $17,165,173
Pantano Behavioral Health Services $15,515,908
Source: 990 forms for 2005-06
Salaries and compensation
Administrative salaries and additional compensation for Tucson'slargest behavioral-health agencies, 2005-06
Name Title and company Salary and additional compensation
Neal Cash CEO of CPSA $340,501 and $54,543 in benefits
Dan Ranieri CEO of La Frontera.* $208,800,
Pat Benchik president of COPE $187,025,
Mark Clark CEO of CODAC $170,020
Dana Johnson executive director, Southeastern ArizonaBehavioral Health Services $100,829
* Current compensation. All other figures from 990 forms for 2005-06.
By way of comparison
$237,993,
salary for Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry
$198,972
salary for Tucson City Manager Mike Hein.
Salaries as of summer 2007
* Contact reporter Josh Brodesky at 807-7789 orjbrodesky@azstarnet.com.
