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September 5, 2008

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“Whatever it takes” has surfaced as the motto for the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas as it offers assistance to workers about to lose their jobs at the Tyson Fresh Meat plant here.

Executive Director Bill Persinger said that the center began working on a plan for helping those employees Friday night, just hours after the company announced it would close its slaughter division and eliminate 1,500 jobs by March 25.

“There are just some essential services available to the public, and we believe mental health is one of them,” he said.

Management and supervisors at the center contributed ideas to flesh out Persinger’s initial list, and he consulted with other directors at the state’s 26 other mental health centers. Persinger, like many of the other directors, has experience dealing with the aftermaths of factory layoffs, tornados, and other happenings that can traumatize large groups of people.

From those ideas, the local center has developed a basic plan that can be adapted as necessary to fit the needs of those affected.

“A lot of these ideas came pretty readily, because it’s what we do. We take care of people, that’s just what we do,” he said.

Two core concepts of the plan are responding immediately to any Tyson employee or family member and making sure that the services are affordable. Some will have health insurance or another type of third-party payer, but some may have to pay for their own sessions out-of-pocket, Persinger said.

In those cases, the center charges on a sliding scale, based on income and number of dependents.

“If it’s a real hardship case, we will do it free, gratis,” he said. “The door’s wide open. Not only are we going to respond quickly, follow through, people just won’t have any difficulty at all affording this.”

Some of the center’s workers speak Spanish, and others will have access to translators.

Persinger expects Tyson workers to experience a wide range of reactions, from no reaction to mild to severe. Some workers already may have solid support systems, through churches, family or friends, and may be able to move on more easily.

Others may need one or two counseling sessions, and still others may require more long-term treatment.

Some predictors of potential problems, or signs to watch for, include:

- pre-existing conditions, like substance abuse, family violence, or a tendency toward depression and anxiety

- increased family tensions

- mood swings

- talk of suicide or other intent to harm

“Of course, if anybody becomes suicidal or their feelings and their anxiety or their depression escalates to the point where it’s out of control and they may be a risk to themselves, we for sure want people to call,” Persinger said.

“Every hour of every day we have a licensed therapist on call. Somebody’s always at the other end of the phone.”

People seeking help from the center may call 343-2626 or 343-2211.

“At least speaking for mental health, we have created a net that will catch all of the people who step forward and ask for help,” he said.

He is attempting to work with Tyson in getting out the word that help is available or providing the mental health resources the company requests.

Persinger also is chairman of the Healthier Community Alliance, an assembly of agencies from health, social, educational and support agencies. HCA expects to work closely with the Tyson employees.

“They also are part of the public safety net,” he said. “I know that each of them also is preparing an appropriate response.”

HCA representatives will meet in about two and a half weeks, after needs have become more clearly defined, to firm up plans as a group.

“Imagine what 20 to 25 agencies can bring to the table as a group,” he said.

Persinger plans to propose a gathering of agencies for the workers once or twice a month and all in one place. A similar idea had been exceptionally helpful after a layoff in the Wichita area. He described it as “like a health, service, welfare and education mall. It’s a nugget of an idea I hope we’ll at least give some thought to.”

“People could go on a given day and find all of the resources there in one place,” he said. “Maybe that’s something we need to consider.”

He mentioned that Eswin Rios, director of Friends in Faith Serving Emporia, had organized a meeting Tuesday evening of some Tyson employees and representatives of service providers, such as the health center and mental health, Emporia State University, clerical leaders, and City Manager Matt Zimmerman. Approximately 60 people attended.

“There was a lot of good discussion about what the community can do,” Persinger said. “We talked about everything from food to helping people.”

A job fair is being planned, with a tentative date set for Feb. 9. A decision on that is likely to come on Friday.

The mental health center will participate in the fair.

“We hire quite a few people at the mental health center, so we think perhaps there may be some people who will be qualified to work here,” he said. “Not everybody who works here is a licensed therapist.”

Jobs may be open for business, clerical, paraprofessional and attendant care workers.

In the interim, though, the center is prepared to provide whatever mental health services are needed.

“We want to make sure that any Tyson employees who may already be our clients know that we’re here for them. Not only new people calling in, but (existing clients). We’ll be there for them like we always have been,” he said.

“If we get one person that steps forward, or 100 or 300, we’ll do whatever it takes to help those people.”

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