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03-06-2004
Reproduced here is the letter from Secretary Odom announcing the new Division Director to his employees. Dr. Visingardi will be leaving at the end of March to return to Michigan.
March 5, 2004
Dear DMHDDSAS Employee,
We are entering a new stage in mental health reform. Today we are putting our plans into action, with the system changing across the state. I’m pleased to announce that we have found a great leader for this next stage of mental health reform. Mike Moseley, who has directed Caswell Center for the past five and a half years, has agreed to serve as the new division director.
When we looked around for the right person to lead this division at this crucial point in time, we found the perfect candidate in Mike, who has been with the division since 1976. Most of you probably know Mike, because he has held a number of roles including crisis services section chief, assistant director of Cherry Hospital, and director of the North Carolina Special Care Center.
Mike has spent much of his career focusing on community services, which is exactly the kind of experience we need as we work to move people from institutional care to community care. In the mid-90s, Moseley served as the first chief of the division’s crisis services section, where he worked to create community support structures for people in crisis. He also managed the state’s response to the Thomas S. class action lawsuit, which focused on developing community-based service options for adults with mental retardation determined to be inappropriately placed in state psychiatric hospitals. From 1986 to 1991, he served as head of the division’s residential services branch where he provided support for more than 250 community-based residential services for people with disabilities. Moseley was president and a founding member of Our Homes, Inc., a nonprofit that worked to establish community care for people with disabilities in Lenoir County. During his time at Caswell, he has worked to move clients from institutional care to community settings. Caswell Center’s population has dropped from 660 in 1998 to 480 today. Much of that difference is the result of moving institutionalized people to community care.
As a division employee, you are crucial to what we are working to accomplish with mental health reform. Mike knows about the challenges that you face, because he has been there for more than 25 years. Both Mike and I look forward to hearing from you as we move forward on mental health reform. Without your efforts, it won’t be possible. We are depending on you to get this job done for the good of all North Carolinians.
Mike will work with Rich Visingardi through March as he transitions into his new role. Rich’s last day with the division will be March 31.
Sincerely,
Carmen Hooker Odom