|
Confusion
over its name concerns MINDS Program
by Dave Groves, Oakland Press, 01/21/2003
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
Original URL:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6762098&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=467992&rfi=6
Operators of a nonprofit, Oakland County mental health
awareness agency fear their reputation could be undeservedly
marred in connection with controversy over alleged wrongdoing
at Oakland Schools.
Administrators of Mental Illness Needs Discussion Sessions,
known as the MINDS Program Inc., have been questioned about
their involvement in an Oakland Schools partnership under
investigation by the Michigan Department of Education.
It is the nonprofit MINDS Institute, which provides
educational materials and programming through its Multimedia
Instructional Network Delivery System, that has the
partnership with Oakland Schools - not the MINDS Program.
Since controversy erupted with the internal investigation at
Oakland Schools, administrators with the MINDS Program have
had to explain to both benefactors and schools they visit that
they are not the organization under scrutiny.
"It's a big concern," said Heather Irish, founder and CEO of
the MINDS Program. "When you're a nonprofit organization, your
reputation is everything."
Irish said she is hopeful that through negotiations, the MINDS
Institute will agree to cease using the MINDS name once it
realizes the confusion it is creating, particularly because
both organizations serve area schools.
James Redmond, superintendent of Oakland Schools, serves as
the chairman of the MINDS Institute. He has been accused of
misusing public special education program funding to develop
the organization's $15 million voice, video and data network.
It is also alleged by some school district employees that
Redmond has a conflict of interest in the partnership because
his son and the daughter of a fellow Oakland Schools
administrator work for a for-profit partner of the MINDS
Institute.
Financed by grants, fund-raisers and corporate and private
donations, the MINDS Program funds mental health awareness
presentations to students across Michigan. In conjunction with
that mission, the organization also provides suicide
intervention services.
"It's a relatively young organization, but we're a vital one
and we've really exceeded our own expectations in terms of
success with the program," said Gary Doyle, a MINDS Program
board member and former superintendent of the Bloomfield Hills
School District.
He said he has seen students benefit from increased awareness
about mental illness and how it can be treated. He also has
learned that program presenters have helped students dealing
with suicidal thoughts.
"They literally will not leave the building before they get
help for the kids," Doyle said.
Flint attorney and MINDS Program board member Michael Witt
said most of the confusion between the organizations arises
from the fact the MINDS Institute is often referred to as
MINDS, which is a business name the MINDS Program had legally
registered and protected two years before the MINDS Institute
was created.
"They have taken our name and our reputation, and they are
injuring us," Witt said.
"I don't want to characterize what they're doing in any way,
but they should be doing it under another name."
Witt said he and Irish wrote Redmond in December asking that
the MINDS Institute stop using the name, but have not received
a response.
"If this goes on much longer, where they're not responding,
we'll have to consider our legal options," he said.
Shelly Yorke Rose, spokeswoman for the Oakland Schools, said
the MINDS Program should share concerns over the name
confusion with TLC Holdings, the parent company of the MINDS
Institute, rather than Redmond.
Neither Redmond nor officials with TLC Holdings were available
for comment.
The name confusion is not limited to two Oakland County area
organizations, however.
Dr. Harvey Finkel, a pediatric neurologist in practice with
the Michigan Institute of Neurological Disorders, also
referred to by the acronym MINDs, said he was alarmed when he
first read about the investigation into the Oakland Schools
partnership.
"I don't think there's been any problems that have come back
to us ... nothing from patients and that," he said.
"But just from our own personal standpoint, seeing stuff in
the paper thinking it's about you and then reading further on
to find out it's not you, that was strange."
Both the MINDS Institute and MINDs neurological organization
are based in Farmington Hills, which could lead to confusion
for telephone callers.
"That's the thing when you have similar acronyms like that -
there could be a lot of things they stand for, and it looks
like they do," Finkel said.
|
