Mental Health Care

Dr. Robert Burton Drury, 82, who implemented community mental health care in Orange County. A native of Tacoma, Wash., Drury grew up in Whittier and studied at Whittier College and USC School of Medicine. He practiced in Whittier for 20 years, serving as chief of staff at Murphy Memorial Hospital. Moving into mental health, he was a psychiatric resident, assistant superintendent and chief of professional education at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

A federal judge is holding the California Department of Corrections in contempt for failing to provide adequate mental health care at the medical prison at Vacaville, and has taken the initial steps toward fining the state $10,000 a day. In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S.

An educational forum exploring the treatment of mental health within a managed health care system is set for Friday. "To Your Health: The Managed Care Debate," sponsored by the Mental Health Coalition of Ventura County, is being held in recognition of May as Mental Health Month. "Managed care really came in and has taken the nation by storm as one of the major ways to reduce health care costs across the nation," said Dr. Richard Reinhart, a representative for the Mental Health Coalition.

The Board of Supervisors gave final approval Tuesday to a nearly $90-million plan aimed at improving mental health services for thousands of children monitored by the county's child welfare system. The county is expected to pay about $36 million for its financial obligation. The rest is expected to come from state and federal funding.

The San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center Inc. received a $3.94-million contract Tuesday from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to provide mental health services countywide. The Van Nuys center's past county contract had been temporarily extended four months to allow time for the county to renegotiate its terms in an effort to improve mental health care delivery. Services provided by the center include day care, outpatient treatment, acute care and community outreach programs.

The San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center plans an open house Thursday to mark the relocation of its Cornerstone Program for the homeless and mentally ill into a newer, more modern facility. The new building, at 5950 Cedros Ave., is about 3,200 square feet, an improvement on the former building's 2,400 square feet, according to center spokeswoman Dorie Paley.

The last time David O. Russell went to the White House, to screen “Three Kings” for Bill Clinton in 1999, he brought his 5-year-old son Matthew. Russell didn't fully know it then, but a world  of struggle loomed for the boy, who grappled with emotional difficulties for much of his childhood and adolescence. Those challenges also awaited the director, who felt acutely the frustrations of raising a son with behavioral issues. Russell was back at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Thursday, making the trip to visit Vice President Biden with his star Bradley Cooper.