By SCOTT MILLER

For the Call

Mental health patients may no longer be welcome at South CountyiFamily Mental Health when countyiofficials finish pondering the proposed 2005 budget.

CountyiExecutive Charlie Dooley’sioffice has informed nearly 500 patients that the county’siFamily Mental Health program may be cut from the 2005 budget.

“The county is spending $1 million to serve 500 clients,” county spokesman Mac Scott said. “Five hundred clients are costing $1 million. That’s just not a good ratio. It’s too much money for too few clients. We’ve well publicized our need to tighten our budget.”

All of the patients are outpatients. The program does not serve inpatients, he said.

South CountyiFamily Mental Health operates out of the South CountyiGovern-ment Center, 4548 Lemay Ferry Road, and providesihealth service to people of all income levels. The countyialso has mental health centers in north countyiand west countyithat would close.

Roughly 17 social workers, therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists countywide will lose their jobs if the program ultimately is cut.

The clients, meanwhile, will start looking for care elsewhere.

“We believe and the countyihealth de-partment believes the people that need these services will be able to transfer into other programs that can help, so they’ll continue to get the services they need,” Scott said.

He did not elaborate on what programs potentially would welcome nearly 500 new clients, however, but did say private programs are available. The countyiwanted to alert patients as soon as possible, allowing ample time to seek out other avenues of mental health care.

The mental health cut, along with the rest of Dooley’sibudget proposal, must be OK’d by the CountyiCouncil.

The countyiexecutive formally will present his draft budget at the council’s Nov. 1 meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. Monday rather than Tuesday because of the election.