Organizational Behavior: Turning Point

Essay by venny_mUniversity, Bachelor'sA, November 2006

download word file, 4 pages 1.0

Turning Point is a residential treatment centered based in northeastern Colorado. This treatment center serves all the counties in Colorado. The average stay at Turning Point is 9-12 months. During this time the focus is to help the client with substance abuse issues, catch up in school, attend individual and group therapy sessions, complete community service projects, eventually gain employment, take care of any court obligations, and re-learn being a productive member of society. Unfortunately, Medicaid cuts make it impossible for counties to fund stays of 9-12 months and the trends are now three to six months. Going from a long-term facility to a short-term facility and continuing to make a profit is not without its challenges.

Let's first look at whom Turning Point's consumers are. Social services make referrals to Turning Point based on client needs. Turning Point gets referrals from counties across Colorado. In the past they had been able to choose who to accept

into their programs.

With Medicaid funding shorter stays, Turning Point has to be less choosey about who will be in their programs and more concerned about keeping beds filled in turn, staying afloat financially.

Before delving into the funding issue, it is important to understand the organizational culture of Turning Point. Organizational culture is defined as "the basic pattern of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs considered to be the correct way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities facing the organization (McShane and Von Glinow, 2004)." It is a long held belief that long- term treatment is more beneficial to the population served by Turning Point than short- term treatment. Employees at every level of the agency struggled with making the necessary changes and questioned whether or not the integrity of the programming would be damaged. The teams that work within...