1. VVOL. 92 NO.2-34POL. 92 NO.2-34PAGESAGESJanuarJanuary 9, 2007 - January 9, 2007 - January 15, 2008y 15, 2008
CLEVELAND EDITIONCLEVELAND EDITION
The People’s Paper
Copyright© 2008, King Media Enterprises, Inc. -216-791-7600Copyright© 2008, King Media Enterprises, Inc. -216-791-7600111800 Shaker1800 Shaker Blvd. Cleveland, Ohio 44120Blvd. Cleveland, Ohio 44120
By Dr. JEFFREY PERKINS
Contributing Writer
Local news media reporters
have recently reported a rash of
troubling encounters between
the mentally challenged home-
less and the general public in
downtown Cleveland and sur-
rounding areas. The reports are
frightening, such as the one of a
young Black male who boards
an RTA bus and throws a vial of
acid into the face of a lovely
young Black female. While
both are strangers, unbe-
knownst to the lovely young
lady is her assailant’s history of
serious mental illness.
A White male shoots and
kills a veteran Cleveland
Heights police officer. Recently
released from prison, the gun-
man, hearing voices, had
stopped taking his prescribed
psychotic medication.
In a public housing project,
a young Black woman stabs her
two young daughters and
drowns them in the bathtub.
The woman was reported to be
suffering severe post-partum
depression.
On downtown streets with
names like Euclid, Superior and
St. Clair, people who are home-
less and mentally challenged
are visible daily. They can be
seen at bus shelters, public
libraries and on street corners.
While they wander the streets
and nestle in downtown public
places, their abnormal behav-
iors allow us to separate the
mentally-challenged homeless
from the traditional homeless,
who also wander the streets of
downtown and nestle in public
places.
In September 2007, the Call
& Post began a three month
investigation of what appears to
be the ever-growing presence of
the mentally challenged down-
town. Our investigation
includes at least 20 hours of
taped interviews with local
mental health experts, advo-
cates for mental health, man-
agers of mental health outpa-
tient facilities and community
drop-in centers, and representa-
tives of public safety and the
judicial system. We now pres-
ent to the public the results of
our investigation in a three part
series.
Part I describes who the
homeless and mentally chal-
lenged are in the downtown
area. They are identified as hav-
ing needs distinct from the tra-
ditional homeless and homeless
substance abusers who are also
found in large numbers in the
downtown area.
Part two examines where
they come from and why so
many are here.
Part three presents what
mental health policy makers are
doing to help them and what
concerned citizens can do.
However, before identifying
the homeless and mentally chal-
lenged, let us first revisit the
acclaimed 1970 best selling
book, “Future Shock” by Alvin
Toffler, renowned futurist/soci-
ologist. Let us examine if what
he forecasted in 1970 may pro-
vide insight into our description
of the disproportionately rising
numbers of homeless and men-
tally-challenged people, espe-
cially Black people, in the city
of Cleveland.
In 1970, Toffler predicted
within the next few decades
many individuals will suffer
“Future Shock” as a conse-
quence of their
(SEE SHOCK/PAGE 6C)
Coping With Mental Illness
Part I: Downtown’s highly visible
homeless – who are they, really?
By GILBERT PRICE
Senior Editor
Well, let’s forget about
“inevitability.”
In the afterglow of his earth-
shattering victory in the Iowa
caucuses, when freshman
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama
polled 39 percent of the vote to
John Edwards’ 30 percent and
Hillary Clinton’s 29 percent,
Obama told his cheering audi-
ence, “the improbable has
defeated what Washington said
was inevitable,” meaning the
coronation of Clinton as the
Democratic Party’s presidential
nominee.
Now, it seems that Obama
has the momentum. He has been
running strongly in New
Hampshire (the New
Hampshire primary was held
Tuesday night after The CALL
& POST went to press), and he
is viewed as being a strong con-
tender to win the Nevada cau-
cuses and the South Carolina
primary on Jan. 29.
State Sen. Eric Kearney, D-
Cincinnati, a longtime Obama
supporter and a regional direc-
tor of his campaign, said that
the Iowa victory rips up the
argument that somehow Obama
is not truly an “electable” candi-
date.
“I think that it shows that
Barack has a much wider
acceptance than people
thought,” Kearney said. “It
sends a clear message that he is
a contender.”
But what will Obama’s vic-
tory mean for the Ohio primary,
which will be held on March 4?
There is some differences of
opinion on that.
Kearney, focusing on the
positive, said, “I believe Ohio is
in play” for the primary season.
He noted that Obama was the
first candidate to file for the
Ohio primary, and Obama rec-
ognizes the significance of the
state – particularly in the gener-
al election.
But U.S. Rep. Stephanie
Tubbs Jones, D-Cleveland, a
national co-chair of the Clinton
campaign, while congratulating
Obama on his victory in Iowa,
still believes that Ohio is unlike-
ly to play a major role in select-
ing the party’s nominee – even
with the uncertainty that
Obama’s Iowa victory had cre-
ated.
“By the time the Ohio pri-
mary gets here, who the nomi-
nee will be will be decided,”
Tubbs Jones said. Tubbs Jones
believes Ohio’s strength will be
demonstrated in the general
election. “Whether it’s Barack
or Hillary, we’ll be able to
decide who will be elected in
November.”
The reality facing Obama,
Clinton and Edwards – who
combined received almost 98
percent of the Iowa Caucus vote
(SEE OBAMA/PAGE 2A)
Free dental
The dental clinic at Case
Western Reserve University
School of Dental Medicine will
offer adults a free dental exam,
teeth cleaning and X-rays on
Saturday, Jan. 26, from 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. The event is organized by
the dental school’s student
council as an annual community
service project.
No appointment is needed,
and walk-ins will be accepted
until 12:30 p.m. on a first-come,
first-served basis. Appointments
last one to two hours, depending
upon services needed. Selected
patients may be invited to par-
ticipate in additional free dental
care. Other participants will
receive $10 off the admitting
fee for anyone who wishes to
become a dental clinic patient
and receive follow-up care after
the free dental exam.
The dental students will
show movies while patients
wait.
The dental clinic is located
on Cornell Road at the
Emergency Drive at University
Hospitals of Cleveland, two
blocks south of Euclid Avenue.
Call (216) 368-3570 between 11
a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.
Probate candidate
Cuyahoga County Common
Pleas Judge Lillian Greene will
hold an evening fundraiser on
Thursday, Jan. 17, from 5 to 7
p.m., at Damiano’s, 75 Public
Square, in downtown Cleveland
for her campaign for Probate
Court. The Democrat graduated
from Case Western Reserve
University Law School in 1976.
Cost is $50 per person, with a
maximum of $500, and $3,000.
Call (216) 381-3708.
What will Obama victory
mean for Ohio primary?
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with his wife Michelle and daugh-
ters Malia, left, and Sasha, after winning the Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Thursday,
Jan. 3, in Des Moines, Iowa. (STAFF PHOTO BY J. DARWIN HOLLINGSWORTH II)
Appointment part of
new direction in crime
fighting for 2008
By RUSSELL WALKER
Staff Reporter
Cleveland Mayor Frank
Jackson has appointed Edward
J. Tomba as the new deputy
chief of the Cleveland Police
Department.
Tomba, who headed the
department’s bureau of special
investigation, replaces former
Deputy Chief Lester Fults, who
was recently tapped to become
the Cleveland Municipal
School District’s chief of safety
and security.
Tomba is a 22-year
Cleveland Police veteran who
has held a number of positions
within the department, includ-
ing Third District commander
and executive assistant to the
chief of police.
Jackson described Tomba’s
law enforcement background as
“extensive.”
According to Jackson, fill-
ing the deputy chief slot was the
first step in his overall goal of
shifting the city’s focus on how
it fights crime in 2008.
When he first came into
office in 2006, Jackson’s stated
goal as far as city safety went
was increasing the efficiency of
the Cleveland Police depart-
ment through a series of internal
changes and bridge the rift
between residents and police.
This year, Jackson said the
goal now is to stop the rampant
violence in the city caused by
the continued influx of drugs
and guns.
“We’re putting forth a con-
certed effort to stop drugs com-
ing into the city of Cleveland,
dealing with the organized
crime activity that bring drugs
into Cleveland, dealing with
gang activity in the neighbor-
hoods and doing heavy gun sup-
pression,” said Jackson.
Although overall crime in
the city was down in 2007, the
city’s murder rate hit a 15-year
high of 134 homicides by the
end of the year.
According to police figures,
a majority of those murders
were gun related. Last year,
Cleveland police confiscated
1,100 firearms.
In response to the number of
firearms that wind up on the
street, Jackson said that police,
with the help of federal law
enforcement agencies, will be
intensifying their gun-suppres-
sion activities in the neighbor-
hoods by cracking down on
those using them.
“Every gun confiscated in
the commission of a crime will
be traced back to where it was
bought and who bought it,” said
Jackson. “We’re going to be
looking at who we call ‘straw
purchasers’ – people who buy
guns for people who cannot buy
them legally or they buy guns
(SEE MAYOR/PAGE 2A)
Mayor picks new deputy police chief
By RUSSELL WALKER
Staff Reporter
Police have arrested three
Cleveland juveniles in connec-
tion with the New Year’s Eve
assault of a Shaker Heights man
out for a walk.
The teens, Jerome Edwards,
17, Brandon Goodwin, 16, and
an unidentified 14-year-old, are
accused of viciously beating 53-
year-old Kevin McDermott.
They were arrested by Shaker
Heights police Saturday,
according to acting Police Chief
Scott Lee.
All three teens were
arraigned Monday morning in
Juvenile Court and remanded to
the county juvenile detention
center by Judge Thomas
O’Malley on charges of aggra-
vated robbery and felonious
assault. They denied the charges
against them.
According to Lee, police
continue to investigate the inci-
dent and expect to make more
arrests.
“We are continuing to
actively investigate further
leads and following up on pos-
sible other suspects,” said Lee.
According to authorities, the
teens were part of a group of
about seven other juveniles who
allegedly attacked McDermott,
a private-practice lawyer,
around 6:30 p.m. as he was
walking along East 146th and
(SEE TEENS/PAGE 2A)
Teens arrested in beating
of Shaker Heights man
H
uron Hospital welcomed David Seales-Couch as its first
baby of 2008. Little David weighed in at 7 pounds and 2
ounces at 7:04 a.m., on Jan. 1. Showing off the precious
infant is his mother, Tracy Scales.
2008 First Born
A homeless woman finds rest on a bench in donwtown
Cleveland. (STAFF PHOTO BY MYCHAL LILLY)
This Week CP2 is inside
featuring the Iowa Caucuses
1A-1-9-08.qxd 1/8/2008 6:09 PM Page 1

2. PAGE 6C/THE CALL AND POST/WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2008
From Page 1A
inability to quickly adapt to sud-
den accelerated change caused
by rapid shifts from a manufac-
turing culture to an information,
high-tech culture. The inability
to adapt to change too rapidly
will cause many to suffer mental
stress by having to make too
many unexpected decisions.
Future Shock, Toffler
warned, will likely be the result
of numerous persons diagnosed
with unprecedented physical
and mental health-related ill-
nesses by the new millennium.
One example of what may
be a cause of Future Shock in
Greater Clevelanders is the
recent shift in favor of outsourc-
ing American jobs to countries
overseas. According to Policy
Matters, 44,000 manufacturing
jobs alone were lost in Greater
Cleveland from November 1999
to November 2003.
In turn, unprecedented fami-
ly disintegration due to loss of
so many jobs may have been a
consequence causing Future
Shock mental health-related ill-
nesses. Hopelessness and low
self-esteem, perhaps due to job-
lessness, may have also con-
tributed to so many adults abus-
ing chemical and alcohol sub-
stances to cope with realities of
a society passing them by at
super-sonic speed.
Thus, many of their children
who enter the foster care sys-
tem, are diagnosed with anxiety
disorders and emotional depres-
sion, and consequently need
prescribed pharmaceutical
drugs.
Mental health-related symp-
toms associated with Future
Shock also may be due to the
inability of Black leadership to
solve many of the structural
economic new problems facing
Black Clevelanders since the
millennium. Their failure may
be the cause of too many Black
residents succumbing to wide-
spread suspicion and mistrust of
role model institutions – like
religious, political, education
and family institutions.
Looking for further evidence
of Future Shock leads us to con-
sider recent shocks to the social
security of the underclass poor
in Cleveland. We conclude that
a major shock, perhaps, is the
abrupt dismantling of the wel-
fare “social safety net” pro-
grams, which may have caused
a lot of psychological uncertain-
ty in the wake of so many indi-
viduals unable to meet basic
human needs.
Did Black city residents dis-
proportionately suffer mental
disorders due to stress often
associated with worrying about
what’s going to happen once
they lose much needed public
assistance? Did competition
over limited available low-wage
jobs (without medical benefits)
contribute to their dispropor-
tionate mental disorders often
associated with schizophrenia,
schizoaffective, and bipolar dis-
order?
According to Dr. Steve
Friedman, executive director of
Mental Health Services,
“Mental health-related illnesses
may be diagnosed in two dis-
tinct categories: 1) medical bio-
logical, and 2) other mental
health problems. Medical
Biological is defined as neuro-
logical disorders caused by
schizophrenia, schizoaffective,
and bipolar disorder.”
Schizophrenia is a severe
brain disease causing hallucina-
tions, delusions and paranoia.
Schizoaffective is psychotic
symptoms in the absence of
mood changes. Bipolar disorder
is extreme mood changes from
very high energy to extreme
lows of depression.
“Other mental health prob-
lems may be caused by too
much psychological stress often
associated with domestic vio-
lence, the loss of employment
and substance abuse,” Friedman
said. “They affect the individ-
ual’s state of mind even though
they are non-neurological dis-
eases.”
Having defined Future
Shock and its consequences as a
possible explanation for so
many people with mental health
issues, we now turn to describ-
ing who those people are in the
city and county.
Homelessness accompanied
by mental health problems is a
countywide problem. Carolyn
Nabakowski of the Cuyahoga
County Office of Homeless
Services provided “Point-in-
Time” information that classi-
fies homelessness by three par-
ticular groups when seeking
federal aid for continuing their
care: 1) Severe Mental Illness
(SMI), 2) Chronic Substance
Abuse (CSA) and 3) Chronic
Homelessness. Regarding sub-
stance abuse and associated
homelessness, CSA alone made
up 50 percent of all county
homelessness in 2007. SMI and
Chronic Homeless made up the
remaining 50 percent.
Headquartered in downtown
Cleveland, MHS keeps public
records of all registered clients
receiving mental health servic-
es. Figure 1, “Percent of Clients
by Race 2006,” shows that
Black clients alone make up 51
percent of all clients in need of
MHS treatment for mental
health services. This is followed
by Whites at 46 percent, Asians,
2 percent, Latinos, 1 percent,
and Native Americans, 1 per-
cent.
The disproportionate num-
ber of Blacks in need of mental
health services is equally dis-
turbing when Black males are
compared to Black females. In
2007, Black males to females
made up 53 percent of MHS
total client population at an
average 32 to 35 years of age.
In 2004, Black females
made up 44 percent of all
clients. However, in 2007, their
client population was 46 per-
cent, which suggests the gap
between rising high rates of
Black females is closely nar-
rowing high client rates of
Black males. In 2007, Black
females averaged 32 years of
age (up from 29 in 2004).
Figures 2 and 3, “MHS
Clients Needing Homeless
Assistance Programs” and
“MHS Clients Needing
Crisis/Trauma Intervention
Programs” 2004-2007, identify
the need for services to help the
mentally challenged and home-
less.
For homeless assistance, the
need for services such as case
management, outreach and
emergency shelter has steadily
grown since 2004. But what is
disturbing is the increase in the
need for crisis and trauma inter-
vention programs, which have
also steadily grown.
In 2007, the need for a
“Children Who Witness
Violence” program was up by
89 percent since 2004; the need
for an adult mobile crisis team
increased by 92 percent.
Community gang violence,
domestic violence and family
disintegration helps to create a
widespread need for a “Children
Who Witness Violence” pro-
gram. Moreover, information
provided by the Cuyahoga
County Board of Health shows
that suicide is a growing prob-
lem for children suffering poor
mental health. From 1999 to
2007, the average age of chil-
dren in Cleveland and surround-
ing suburbs who committed sui-
cide was 14, on a scale of 11 to
17 years of age.
Black children make up 12
percent of all reported suicides
and White children make up 22
percent. When comparing same-
race males to females, young
Black males are reported more
likely to commit suicide, 24 per-
cent higher than young Black
females. The high rate of young
Black males killing themselves
is unprecedented in the history
of Black youth in the city.
Regardless of which mental-
ly-challenged group we identify
downtown, i.e., children or
adults, former Public Safety
Director William L. Denihan,
CEO Cuyahoga County
Community Mental Health
Board, speaks about public safe-
ty.
“Contrary to isolated acts of
violence involving the mentally
ill in downtown, overall the
public is not in danger,” said
Denihan. “People with mental
illness will commit crimes to get
arrested as one way of getting
out of the cold.”
He also discussed how they
are more likely to be victims of
crime instead of the average
downtown citizen.
“Women suffering mental
issues are more likely to be
raped and males robbed because
they have difficulty identifying
suspects and filing police
reports,” he said.
In part two of this report I’ll
explain why so many of the
mentally challenged and home-
less are downtown and we show
where they come from.
Dr. Jeffrey Perkins, Jr., has a
Ph.D. in Public and
International Affairs from the
University of Pittsburgh. He is a
research investigator and part-
time staff member at Myers
University. For responses to this
report please e-mail
jperkins@myers.edu.
Coping With Mental Illness
Part I: Downtown’s highly visible
homeless – who are they, really?
One of the hundreds of homeless persons who walk the streets
of downtown Cleveland looking for a place to help keep them
warm.
der it started sprinkling, then
raining, then snowing like crazy.
At a point the blizzard got so
bad, I finally had to pull over ad
get a hotel over night.
The next morning I finally
got to Chicago to pick up my
16-year-old, Jamel, who was
riding shotgun with me for the
journey into history.
When leaving Chicago, I
missed one turn. It took me two
hours to get back on track.
In effect, a trip that usually
takes 10 hours took more than a
dog-gone day.
At the end of the process,
however, when I finally made it
to the Barack Obama victory
rally in Des Moines, they moved
me past hundreds of other
reporters and photographers
right in front of Obama for that
masterful victory speech next to
photographers from some of the
leading newspapers in the coun-
try.
All this because I was deter-
mined to get there and get it
done.
I guess all this means that in
2008 I am resolved to be highly
productive through relationships
that are, themselves, wonderful
experiences for myself and oth-
ers, by intentionally maximizing
those relationships with great
determination to get outstanding
results.
And that’s how it is …
according to James.
Contact Hollingsworth at
(216) 791-7600, ext. 240, at
religion@call-post.com or blog
him at
according2james.blogspot.com.
Three
From Page 5B
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3. In Part I of Dr. Perkins’ series, which ran in the Jan.
9, issue of the Call & Post, the recently released, men-
tally challenged ex-offender in Cleveland Heights
who allegedly stopped taking his psychotic medica-
tion and was hearing voices, and consequently shot
and killed a veteran Cleveland Heights police officer,
was a Black male. He was misidentified as a White
male in Part I of the series.
PAGE 6B/THE CALL AND POST/WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008
By Dr. JEFFREY
PERKINS Jr.
Contributing Writer
Part I of our special report
described who the mentally
challenged and homeless are
that we see so often downtown.
Our observations were dis-
cussed in the context of “Future
Shock,” a concept coined in
1970 by futurist/sociologist
Alvin Toffler. It was in 1970 that
he predicted many people would
not adapt to the accelerated
change as our society rapidly
went from a manufacturing to a
high-tech information society.
He believed that their failure to
adapt would result in many
being diagnosed with physical
and mental illness related prob-
lems.
Our research shows that
since 2000 the Black poor in the
city of Cleveland are likely can-
didates for Future Shock with so
many being diagnosed with
mental health problems often
associated to mental stress due
to long-term unemployment,
lack of marketable skills, sub-
stance abuse, family disintegra-
tion and run-ins with the law.
Where help is available, Part
II will identify the locations of
downtown homeless facilities,
substance abuse counseling
facilities, and facilities provid-
ing free breakfast, lunch and
dinner. It also illustrates the
proximity of these facilities to
Public Square.
Facilities that provide hous-
ing shelter to the homeless can
be described by two major
types, emergency shelters and
transitional housing. For exam-
ple, Lutheran Metropolitan
Ministries operates a men’s
emergency shelter located at
2100 Lakeside providing 350
beds to homeless adult males.
Mental Health Services pro-
vides homeless females a 180-
bed emergency shelter located
at East 22nd and Payne Avenue; MHS also provides a 50-bed
emergency shelter for disabled
men located at 1710 Payne Ave.
The newly-renovated North
Point Transitional Housing
Center was recently opened to
provide double occupancy tran-
sitional housing of 160 beds to
working homeless men. North
Point’s located at 1550 Superior
Ave.
The Salvation Army Harbor
Light Complex provides three
transitional housing programs.
The Pass program has 75 beds
located at 1710 Prospect Ave.;
the Share program has 32 beds
located at 22nd and Community
College; and at Railton House,
there are 56 beds located at
6001 Woodland Ave. Also,
Harbor Light operates the
Zelma George Shelter for
Homeless Women and Children,
with 87 beds located at 1710
Prospect Ave.
Most emergency and transi-
tional homeless shelters have
policies that require residents to
leave during early morning
hours. They must leave presum-
ably to seek employment, attend
drug and alcohol counseling,
vocational or college education.
They may return to the shelters
during select evening hours.
For those with mental prob-
lems and unable to work, they
roam the downtown area as the
daytime “visible invisibles”
according to Officer Linda
Sealey of the Cleveland Police
Department.
“We visibly see them down-
town yet psychologically we
deny eye contact making them
invisible when we see them in
the library, Terminal Tower,
asleep on the steps of the
Soldiers and Sailors Monument,
and panhandling from street to
street and corner to corner,”
Sealey said.
For non-shelter services,
there are numerous facilities
that will help them in the down-
town area offering drug and
alcohol counseling at Recovery
Resources, located at 3950
Chester Ave., or at Mental
Health Services, 1744 Payne.
Breakfast, lunch, and evening
meals can be obtained at the
William Bishop Cosgrove
Center, 1736 Superior Ave.; the
Salvation Army, 1710 Prospect
Ave., and Trinity Cathedral,
2230 Euclid Ave.
In Part III of our series, men-
tal health policy makers, advo-
cates and others will discuss
what’s being done to help the
mentally challenged and home-
less to be independent, get job
training and find permanent
housing.
It will show innovations in
housing developments other
than emergency shelters and
transitional housing with recom-
mendations to the public. If our
downtown is truly to emerge a
vibrant economically developed
renaissance, do not miss what
they have to say and especially
their recommendations on how
the average citizen can help.
Dr. Jeffrey Perkins Jr., holds
a Ph.D. in public and interna-
tional affairs from the
University of Pittsburgh. He is a
research investigator and part-
time staff member at Myers
University. For responses to this
report please e-mail him at
jperkins@myers.edu or phone
Myers University’s Cleveland
Heights Academic Center at
(216) 397-0360.
The Empowerment Center of Greater
Cleveland
Creating positive outcomes in the lives of people living on low
incomes, since 1966.
Project B.R.E.A.D., A Food Stamp Entitlement Program
The Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland, formerly The
Welfare Rights Organization, provides advocacy, community
organizing, and programs stimulating personal development of
individuals living with low incomes. One of The Empowerment
Center of Greater Cleveland's major programs is to act as a
contact for individuals in need of food assistance. Funded by and
working in collaboration with the USDA-FNS, Ohio Department
of Jobs and Family Services and Cuyahoga County Department of
Employment and Family Services, The Empowerment Center of
Greater Cleveland manages Project B.R.E.A.D., an outreach
project regarding the Food Stamp Program. Staff from The
Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland is available to assist
individuals with the process of making applications for Food
Stamp Benefits. To find out more information or to make an
appointment to complete a preliminary application for the Food
Stamp Program, contact The Empowerment Center at 216-432-
4770.
Contact us at:
The Empowerment Center of
Greater Cleveland
3030 Euclid Avenue, Suite #100
Cleveland, Ohio 44115 ------216-432-4770
www.ecgccleveland.org
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1 MILE RADIUS FROM PUBLIC
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2 MILE RADIUS FROM PUBLIC SQUARE
Detroit
Superior
Lakeside Payne
Chester
Euclid
CarnegieProspect
Woodland
Community College
East22nd
East18th
Lorain
West25th
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PUBLIC
SQUARE
6 BEDS
50 BEDS
18 BEDS
75 BEDS
32 BEDS
11 BEDS
50 BEDS
20 BEDS
71 BEDS
28 BEDS
87 BEDS
350 BEDS
180 BEDS
160 BEDS
108 BEDS
RADIUS OF SHELTERS AND OTHER SERVICES FOR THE HOMELESS
AND MENTALLY CHALLENGED IN DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND
1000 0 1000 2000 Feet
SERVICES PROVIDED
#S FOOD OR COUNSELING
HOMELESS SHELTERS
ÆW 1 - 50 BEDS
ÆW 50 - 100 BEDS
ÆW 100 - 150 BEDS
ÆW150 - 350 BEDS
DATABASE: JEFFREY PERKINS, JR., PH.D., CALL & POST SPECIAL RESEARCH PROJECT
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY: CUYAHOGA COUNTY OFFICE OF HOMELESS SERVICES AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR HOMELESS PERSONS, INC.
Coping With Mental Illness – Future Shock
Part II: Where are the mentally challenged and homeless downtown?
Correction:
6bCle13.qxd 2/12/2008 5:56 PM Page 1

4. Residency-based treat-
ment centers among lat-
est options for mentally
challenged homeless
By Dr. JEFFREY PERKINS
Jr.
Contributing Writer
Part One of our special
report presented who the men-
tally challenged and homeless
are in the downtown area by
race, gender and age. Part Two
presented where emergency
shelters, transitional housing,
and resource and food facilities
are located downtown and their
proximity to Public Square.
Statistics in Part One
showed how Black city resi-
dents disproportionately make
up higher rates of the mentally
challenged and homeless. The
rates reported are rising and to
meet their growing needs for
emergency shelters, transitional
housing, and resource facilities
the development of these facili-
ties has been within walking
distance to Public Square by at
least a mile or less.
The primary reason we see
so many of them downtown
may be due to the development
of downtown shelters and
resource facilities in close prox-
imity to Public Square and
homeless shelter policies that
require them to leave the prem-
ises during daytime working
hours.
Public Square becomes the
most likely alternate place to be
because of its proximity, which
offers the poor Black, White,
Hispanic, etc., have-nots an
opportunity to panhandle the
haves for food, alcohol, bus
transportation or whatever.
Part Three concludes this
series by presenting what men-
tal health policymakers and oth-
ers are doing to help them with
recommendations about how
concerned citizens can help.
Our report begins with
Mental Health Services for
Homeless Persons Inc. (MHS),
which provides outpatient treat-
ment services, housing and
counseling, and a 24-hour
mobile crisis team. MHS
Executive Director Dr. Steve
Friedman recommends down-
town businesses and citizens
telephone the Mobile Crisis
Team at (216) 623-6888 when
confronted by persons who dis-
play abnormal behavior, provid-
ing the situation is non-threaten-
ing.
Otherwise, he advises that
an emergency telephone call be
placed to the police. MHS also
operates a special program to
help children overcome trau-
matic encounters as a result of
witnessing or being victimized
by violence. More information
about their programs can be
found by contacting Mental
Health Services for Homeless
Persons Inc., 1744 Payne Ave.,
Cleveland, OH 44114, tele-
phone (216) 623-6555, or visit
MHS-inc.org.
In addition to the mental
health services of MHS, due to
growing demands for local hos-
pital emergency psychiatric care
St. Vincent Charity Hospital
announced the renovation for
expansion of its Psychiatric
Emergency Unit. The hospital is
one of the few in Ohio that
offers emergency mental health
care for anybody in Cleveland
and Cuyahoga County needing
emergency psychiatric help. The
renovation construction is
scheduled for completion this
spring.
The police training acade-
my, in partnership with the
Cuyahoga County Community
Mental Health Board, operates
the Crisis Intervention Team
(CIT) training program that
teaches police officers how to
interact with people with mental
illness and provides the tools
needed to divert nonviolent peo-
ple with mental illness from
going to jail, when appropriate,
to a designated diversion and
treatment point.
According to police officer
and academy trainer Linda
Sealey, “CIT is a program that
trains law enforcers on how to
manage arrests involving people
with mental problems. It has
operated for the past three years
working in collaboration with
agencies that administer mental
health treatment, counseling,
and administration of justice.”
Even though CIT is addi-
tional academy training that is
voluntary, Sealey said “to
encourage and ensure that
patrolmen receives the addition-
al training, Chief of Police
Michael McGrath offers person-
al incentives designed to moti-
vate them to receive the train-
ing. One effective method he
uses is the personal signing of
each certificate of program
completion.”
Regarding what has been
done after arrests when people
with mental problems enter the
judicial system, Shaker Heights
Municipal Judge K.J.
Montgomery discussed what’s
being done to protect their civil
rights and civil liberties.
“In the past, they often lin-
gered longer than necessary in
local municipal jails because of
the difficulty by arresting offi-
cers to identify them or the
arrestee’s lack of knowledge
obtaining legal counsel,” said
Montgomery. “The Cuyahoga
County Mental Health Court
Initiative grew out of collabora-
tions between the County Court
of Common Pleas and suburban
court partners, in 2002, to
ensure their legal rights are pro-
tected once they are arrested.”
CCMHCI offers legal refer-
rals, bond investigation, and
mental health jail liaisons.
For public awareness of
their services and other issues
involving the mentally chal-
lenged homeless, Montgomery
recommends that “workshops
be offered designed to educate
the average citizen on how to
recognize symptoms of mental
illness. Workshops in compas-
sion training are designed to
instruct the average citizen on
how to interact with consumers
of mental health services in
order to diffuse stereotypes
about them.”
For colleges and universi-
ties, she recommends that “they
conduct more research into the
bridging of three distinct admin-
istrations of justice paradigms,
i.e., punishment, rehabilitation,
and now mental health, which is
becoming more inclusive in the
policy making process.”
For information about
CCMHCI contact: Cuyahoga
County Court of Common
Pleas, 1200 Ontario St.,
Cleveland, OH 44114, tele-
phone (216) 443-2170, or go
online to http://cp.cuyahoga-
county.us /internet /courtdocs
/mhbrochure.pdf
Also, county government
manages the Office of Homeless
Services which provides a wide
range of services to reduce and
prevent homelessness and
THE CALLTHE CALL AND POSTWEDNESDAAND POSTWEDNESDAYY, FEBRUAR, FEBRUARYY 27, 2008P27, 2008PAGE 7AAGE 7A
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Coping With Mental Illness – Future Shock
Part Three: What are we doing to help?
Participating in the St. Vincent Charity Hospital groundbreaking ceremony are, from left, Sister
Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and CEO, Sisters of Charity Health System, U.S. Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, Theresa Coaxum, Cleveland City Councilmembers Phyllis Cleveland of Ward 5 and
Anthony Brancatelli of Ward 12, Charity emergency department Chairman Dr. Thomas Graber,
Ward 3 Councilman Zack Reed, County Administrator Dennis Madden, St. Vincent Charity
Hospital President & CEO Jeffrey S. Jeney, Bob Ivory, Charity psychiatry Chairman Luiz
Ramirez. (STAFF PHOTO BY MYCHAL LILLY)
Jeffrey Perkins, Ph.D., interviews tenants at Emerald Commons.
(SEE COPING/ PAGE 9A)
7aCle27.qxd 2/26/2008 12:39 PM Page 1

5. THE CALL AND POST WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008PAGE 9A
increase access to permanent
housing for low-income home-
less persons. Recently in a ven-
ture with the city of Cleveland,
it opened the North Point
Transitional Housing Center,
located at 1550 Superior Ave.
North Point is part of a $5 mil-
lion appropriation to reduce
homelessness and provide more
support services.
Natoya Walker, special
assistant to the mayor for public
affairs, discussed that since the
mayor’s election, an integration
of public services to help the
homeless and ex-offenders has
been his goal. The recent open-
ing of North Point is one of sev-
eral proposals designed to help.
However, “North Point is
not an emergency shelter; it is
transitional housing set up to
accomplish three major goals: to
reduce homelessness, to provide
a continuum of services includ-
ing workforce development, and
to provide
c o m f o r t -
able living
a r r a n g e -
ments for
up to six
m o n t h s
while the
w o r k i n g
homeless
save for an
affordable
apartment.”
At the community-based
level, community activists in
partnership with community
development corporations are
experimenting with innovations
and options to provide afford-
able housing for the mentally
challenged homeless and dis-
abled. Housing First Initiative is
gaining momentum in its advo-
cacy. In collaboration with Eden
Inc. (a West Side CDC), hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars in
grants, tax credits and govern-
ment funding have been raised
to renovate several apartments
for them.
According to Executive
Director Kathryn Kazol, Eden’s
most crowning achievement is a
newly-built apartment complex
called Emerald Commons on
West 79th and Madison Ave.
that opened in December 2006.
With 52 efficiency single apart-
ment units, residents are not
considered clients, but tenants,
according to Kazol.
“They are tenants either
diagnosed with mental health
issues or seriously disabled,”
Kazol said. “All were previous-
ly homeless and either residing
at the men’s or women’s emer-
gency shelter downtown.”
Emerald Commons is only
one of 80 properties of Eden
developed with onsite mental
health care and other necessary
services, some funded by the
Cuyahoga County Community
Mental Health Board. Property
Manager Christie Stroh dis-
cussed other necessary services
such as front desk security and
camera monitoring, and fur-
nished single efficiency hous-
ings with
personal
kitchens
and pri-
vate bath-
rooms.
“ T o
help new
t e n a n t s
get started
each effi-
c i e n c y
c o m e s
equipped with an array of
sundry items such as towels,
kitchen utensils and beddings,”
she said. “A walk-in pantry con-
tains other sundries such as
food, clothing, and men and
women hygiene items. There is
an exercise room, a computer
lab with Internet access, a meet-
ing room where tenants discuss
apartment living, and a small
kitchen for special affairs.
Mental Health Services also
provides on-site mental health
treatment and counseling.”
In a roundtable interview
with several formerly homeless
tenants they testified on the
effectiveness of innovative
housing like Emerald Commons
and how it has helped them
mentally. Emma Webster dis-
cussed her personal safety and
the mental health benefits of
having a place like Emerald
Commons.
“I would like to see more
people on the street living in
places like Emerald Commons,”
she said. “I feel safe here, unlike
at the women’s shelter on 22nd
Payne Avenue.”
Tenant Antonio Correa stat-
ed how Emerald Commons has
helped him overcome his delu-
sions. “Being here cuts down
the chaos on your mind; you
don’t worry as much and don’t
have to look behind your back,”
he said. “I feel safe and secure,
and I no longer hear voices.”
Similar apartments are
scheduled to open on the East
Side and south side of
Cleveland. The Liberty at St.
Clair will open this February
with 72 efficiency apartments;
and South Pointe Commons is
currently under construction and
will open 84 efficiency apart-
ments in September.
Since this is new for residen-
tial neighborhoods, Kazol rec-
ommends we “educate the pub-
lic to accept new housing devel-
opments for the mentally chal-
lenged in their neighborhoods.
Develop partnerships with local
community leaders and estab-
lish ‘good neighborhood poli-
cies’ for interacting with resi-
dential developments exclusive-
ly designed for mentally chal-
lenged residents.”
Stroh recommends we
develop “strategies to reach out
to local professionals, such as
chefs, artists, musicians, and
others in the performing and
fine arts, for the purpose of
soliciting their time as volun-
teers. Their volunteer in-kind
services will greatly contribute
by setting up workshops in com-
munity rooms of the newly
developed housing servicing the
mentally challenged. University
students are also welcomed. The
outcomes are expected to con-
tribute immensely to the posi-
tive mental health and recovery
of residents.”
New initiatives like Emerald
Commons, North Point
Transitional Housing and oth-
ers, are constantly besieged by
funding concerns of mental
health policymakers and advo-
cates. William M. Denihan,
chief executive officer of the
Cuyahoga County Community
Mental Health Board, believes
“the county and state are gross-
ly under-funded and problems
continue to rise. The public
needs a proactive solution of
funding designed to meet an
array of needs of the mental
health mentally challenged con-
sumer. Instead, we’re reactive
with most of the money spent on
prisons.”
Joan M. Englund, director of
Mental Health Advocacy
Coalition, recommends that the
state of Ohio needs to prioritize
mental health funding, because
“when it comes to funding for
mental health, Ohio has fallen in
funding from 17 to 36 per capi-
ta.”
Judith Z. Peters, president
and CEO of West Side
Ecumenical Ministry, recom-
mends “policymakers come up
with economic solutions
designed to close the gap
between meagerly-earned
income and the raising costs of
affordable housing. This will
lessen a lot of people’s mental
health problems caused by
financial uncertainties of day-
to-day living.”
Michael Baskin, executive
director of the National Alliance
on Mental Illness Greater
Cleveland recommends we sup-
port the need to “increase fund-
ing for additional outpatient
services such as assisted outpa-
tient treatment. Mobilize more
public support for mandatory
assisted outpatient treatment.”
Sandy Stephenson, director
of the Ohio Department of
Mental Health recommends a
holistic approach to funding
designed to “support re-entering
ex-offender programs, housing
options, and pediatrics and
health care case workers who
can identify (mental health)
problems in children while very
young in primary school and
secondary high school.”
Finally, if downtown
Cleveland is to be a viable eco-
nomically developed area we
must do something about the
ever-growing presence of so
many homeless, wretched and
mentally ill citizens wandering
aimlessly in downtown and in
public places seemingly with
nowhere else to go.
Helen Jones, president and
CEO of Recovery Resources,
recommends that the
“public/private sector spend
more resources to build up the
downtown district as a vibrant
downtown community with lots
of entertainment, movie shows
and restaurants. Currently it is
not!”
Dr. Jeffrey Perkins Jr. holds
a Ph.D. in public and interna-
tional affairs from the
University of Pittsburgh. He is a
research investigator and part-
time staff member at Myers
University. For responses to this
report please e-mail him at
jperkins@myers.edu or phone
Myers University’s Cleveland
Heights Academic Center at
(216) 397-0360.
Coping
From Page 7A
2008 Honorees
JIM BROWN
AMER-I-CAN
GERALD LEVERT
(IN MEMORIAM)
WW.O.W.O.WALKERALKERSALUTESALUTE TTO COMMUNITYO COMMUNITY EXCELLENCEEXCELLENCE
AAWWARDS CEREMONYARDS CEREMONY & RECEPTION& RECEPTION
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WHO HAWHO HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANTVE MADE SIGNIFICANT
CONTRIBUTIONSCONTRIBUTIONS
THROUGH THEIRTHROUGH THEIR WORKWORK
& VOLUNTEERISM& VOLUNTEERISM
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QUALITYQUALITY OFOF LIFE FOR OTHERSLIFE FOR OTHERS
IN & THROUGHOUTIN & THROUGHOUT
OUR COMMUNITYOUR COMMUNITY
CCALLALL & P& POSTOST PPUBLISHERUBLISHER 1932 - 19811932 - 1981
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Emerald Commons
A typical room arrangement
Workout room
Computer room
Efficiency kitchen
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