The Georgia Advocacy Office

Deal ditches hiring rules in appointing spokesman's girlfriend

Deal named Corinna Magelund to the position earlier this month at a salary $25,000 above what her predecessor made, while also giving Magelund more responsibility. Magelund, who previously served as then-Gov. Sonny Perdue's scheduler, does not have direct hands-on experience in mental health. Deal's office said she was not hired because of her relationship with Brian Robinson, Deal's deputy chief of staff for communications, but for her experience in state government.

The mental health ombudsman is an important job in Georgia, which continues to operate under an agreement with the federal Justice Department to change its mental health system. The agreement followed an investigation into the abuse and deaths of dozens of patients in state mental hospitals, abuse uncovered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution starting in 2007.

Magelund, in an interview with the AJC,said that while she doesn't have direct mental health experience, her role in Perdue's administration forced her to serve "every constituency there is. "I’ve just seen, with my time with the Perdue Administration, the progression the mental health program in Georgia has gone through."

Magelund, who has a bachelor's degree in communications from Valdosta State and has worked most recently at the Department of Community Affairs, rejects the implication that her relationship with Robinson led to her appointment.

"It has nothing to do with it," she said. "My state service record and job is the reason for this appointment."

Magelund is only the second person to fill the job since it was created in 2000. While the General Assembly created the position, lawmakers did not fund it until 2009 when Jewel Norman became the inaugural ombudsman. Norman, who has a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology, is a former mental health industry executive and served for just more than a year before resigning in August 2010 for health reasons.

The job has since been vacant and mental health advocates have repeatedly called for Perdue and then Deal, who took office in January, to fill it. Magelund, who was paid about $53,000 as Perdue's scheduler, will see her salary double to $107,000 as ombudsman. Norman's salary was $82,000 for the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to state records.

Deal's office referred all questions on the appointment to Bart Gobeil, the state's chief operating officer and a member of Deal's senior staff.

Help for parents who can't get Medicaid to pay for diapers | CDREA ...

Your email was forwarded to me for reply. I have read the comments on your website from the Georgia mom’s and the advice posted about getting a prescription for the diapers and other supplies. We would certainly like to speak to these mom’s directly to find out if they need further assistance to get the supplies / services that their children need from Georgia Medicaid.

Please ask the Georgia parents to contact Resource Advocacy at the Georgia Advocacy Office. They can speak to either myself or to my supervisor, Denise Quigley.

For people who live in metro-Atlanta the phone number is 404-885-1234. Outside of metro-Atlanta the phone number is 800-537-2329. Both numbers are voice and TTY.

Thanks.

Donna Champion

For those of you in other states who are having problems getting diapers, there are similar disability law centers in every state. They are called Protection and Advocacy Centers (P&As for short). They are federally funded, but each state’s P&A can have different priorities. Contacting your state P&A is the best way to start, though, because if they aren’t working directly on the issue, they should be able to tell you who is.

Here is a list of all the state P&As . I also found a great description of the P&As on Disaboom’s website .

You are still going to need to have a prescription for the diapers from your child’s doctor. The doctor will submit that along with your particular state’s version of its Medicaid “request for authorization form”. There’s a time limit for Medicaid to respond, and if they deny it or don’t respond within the legal time limit (in my state it’s two weeks), then you call your P&A.

I would like to start keeping a list of local state contacts, including private attorneys, who can help parents obtain Medicaid services for our kids. Please email me with any information and I’ll start an online resource center.

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