Maybe I'm the only kossack who listens to their programming, but they do some really interesting stuff and this email I got today upset me a whole lot.
Seems LCM was going to do a piece on "best practices" in mental health care for the homeless. But then they ran afoul of their funding source, Westat, which is deep into BushCo "faith-based" stuff, among other things.
Lichtenstein Creative Media have done some wonderful work over the years on the subject of mental health and related fields. If you're not familiar with them check out their website
http://www.theinfinitemind.com/
Just exactly what in the hell is going on with this administration ? I guess they think they have to control everything !
New York (May 28): The 14-year old independent production and communications company, Lichtenstein Creative Media, announced today that it has suspended all work pending a final decision on June 7 whether to close the company down. The announcement came in the wake of the cancellation of a half-million dollar contract with a Bush administration subcontractor which had hired LCM to produce a video on "best practices" in care for the homeless.
LCM pioneered documentary and public broadcasting programs focusing on mental health, social justice and human rights issues. Since its formation in 1990, the company and its president, Bill Lichtenstein, have been the recipients of over 60 major broadcasting and mental health awards for its work, including a George Foster Peabody Award, television and radio's highest honor. LCM has been producing the highly-acclaimed weekly public radio series, The Infinite Mind. Its most recent film, the award-winning documentary, West 47th Street, aired last summer on PBS.
Just this past week, on May 22, LCM was informed that the Maryland research giant Westat, was terminating the nearly half million dollar contract with LCM for a film on homelessness to be used by the Bush administration's mental health agency SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration.
Additionally, Westat is refusing to pay $60,000 in expenses LCM has already incurred, despite promising in writing payment by May 28. Westat, in turn, has delayed payment, and is requesting in a letter dated May 28, 2004, that LCM indemnify the research company, the Bush mental health agency, sign a confidentiality agreement and retrofit bills to allow Westat, in turn, to submit them for reimbursement by the government. LCM has refused these terms.
Westat's reason for terminating the agreement according to a letter dated May 27, was that the Westat had gotten a "vibe" about LCM's "willingness to collaborate" on the project. Westat had requested that they and Bush administration officials be allowed review the daily footage as it was being shot, receive copies of all transcripts for review and comment, and participate in the editing process. When LCM agreed, but pointed out that these might increase the cost or impact the quality of the work, LCM was terminated. In its letter terminating the agreement, Westat stated only that LCM's "lack of interest in a collaborative processes was evident" in the company's "comportment," but to date have failed to provide any specific details, says Lichtenstein.
LCM had initially been approached in March 2004 by officials of SAMHSA and Westat, which has more than $250,000,000 in government contacts, after representative of both agencies say they heard LCM company president Bill Lichtenstein deliver a keynote address at a homelessness conference in Phoenix.
LCM was asked to make an educational video for homeless care workers about "best practice" in care for the homeless, by producing a documentary film for Westat and SAMHSA on homelessness programs that integrated housing, support benefits, health care and substance addiction care. However, LCM producer June Peoples was increasingly instructed by Westat how to produce the video as well as where to shoot, who to include, what questions to ask, and what research to site. For example, SAMHSA requested that the video focus on a church run program in Philadelphia which utilizes faith based methods as part of its treatment, and another homeless program in Seattle, with deep and longstanding ties to the Bush mental health agency. Both were to be held out as homeless care systems that are "best practice," despite the fact that homelessness rates in Seattle are soaring, with a lengthy cover story in the May 5 Seattle Weekly proclaiming "Mental Health Breakdown: 2000 Homeless People on the Streets--
Welcome Back to the Reagan Era, Only Worse."
LCM was told also at their first meeting with senior Westat executives that under the Bush administration guidelines, all media and communications for federal agencies were consolidated "upstairs," with final approval for the video to come from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson's office. LCM was told by Westat officials at their first meeting that the video about the care of homeless people had to be reviewed by senor officials to insure that it "didn't embarrass the Bush administration."
LCM was encouraged by Westat to work ahead of the signing of the contract due to a stated September 30, 2004 deadline. By doing so, LCM expended more than $59,000 which Westat agreed in writing to pay, even if the contact was not signed. Lichtenstein said he has been told by several SAMHSA officials that at least one other mental health organization, a leading mental health advocacy group, was in a similar situation to LCM, having expended significant funding for a SAMHSA program before a promised contact was signed. Later, their agreement was terminated following the group's concerns with Bush administration practices.
Subsequently, when the non-profit mental health advocacy group was told that they would not be reimbursed for the significant costs the group incurred on behalf of the subcontractor and the federal government, the group turned all relevant financial records over to the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget with a list of alleged OMB violations. They also gave extensive materials to a federal auditor who says he is investigating the matter and other SAMHSA privatized research contracts. The major mental health organization was involved with a national suicide hotline which receives 50,000 urgent calls each month for help, but was endanged by what the group termed "incompetance" in the $9 million program.
"What troubles me is that leading mental health groups were contacted by Bush administration subcontractors, who hired them and encouraged them to move forward ahead of the contracts in spending funds," says LCM president Bill Lichtenstein. "Then when they feel the financial pinch they are told `Do it our way, or else we will terminate the contract and you get nothing.' In our case we win, because our contract with Westat provides that they pay us at least for the work done, no matter what, but now we have a collections issue on our hands trying to get paid."
Westat, which holds more than $250 million in federal contracts, has become a favorite of the Bush administration in tackling difficult issues. However, their role as an independent research organization may be in jeopardy in the coming days due to their involvement in several controversial Bush administration projects, including a $14 million, five-year study to "assess the value of equal opportunity scholarships" for low-income students. This comes in the wake of an article published by Westat's senior study director, Joesph A. Hawkins, in the April 5, 2000 "Education Week," which stated "It is my belief, and that of the other founders, that the only real solution available for closing the achievement gap between these kids and their white counterparts is academic rigor. There is no other answer or shortcut." Westat's Hawkins is also embroiled in a battle over funding for low-income students to receive tutoring and remedial aid. He was quoted in the Montgomery (Maryland) Gazzette on May 19, 2004 as saying, "I don't see why someone would want to go out of their way to make accommodations for someone just because they receive [benefits]"
In recent days, Westat also provided research and expert testimony before Congress in opposition to homosexual marriages. The committee hearings, chaired by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) were held in the wake of Massachusetts' issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples, which began on May 17, with Westat's Director of Child and Family Studies, Dr. Nicholas Zill, citing the negative impact on children who are raised by same-sex couples.
"Marriage is a social institution," testified Dr. Zill. "Family situations in which children are reared have been found to be significantly related not only to young people's emotional well being, but also to their ... moral and social development."
While the Bush administration's New Freedom Commission report and the work of SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services has been hailed by mental health advocates as progressive, the Bush administration's commitment to actually transforming the mental health care system is being increasingly called into question by leaders in the mental health field who point out that the Bush administration has imposed crippling cuts and restrictions in federal funds for care.
In addition to its journalism awards, LCM was honored two years in a row with a nomination for the Small Business Administration's Phoenix Award, which honors a small business that has recovered from disaster and helped the public at the same time. In LCM's case, the company was severely impacted by the September 11th attacks, but went on to be recognized for its work as the first national outlet to cover the mental health impact of the terrorism. Just the past month, the company won two Gracie Awards, for West 47th Street and a documentary on Domestic Violence, as well as the company's fourth National Mental Health Award for a program on immigrant mental health.