RE: Donna Noriega. BUSTED! 
The following a rehash of previously published data about the current Chief Executive Officer at The Arizona State Hospital. 

PREFACE OCTOBER 2014: IT NEED BE EMPHASIZED THAT BEYOND HER OFFICIAL JOB TITLE AT ASH, DONNA NORIEGA IS ALSO A LICENSED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SOCIAL WORKER, OR AT LEAST SHE WAS PRIOR TO BE CENSURED BY THE ARIZONA BOARD OF BEHAVIORAL EXAMINERS IN 2012 FOR PATENTLY LYING ABOUT THE QUALIFICATIONS (OR LACK THEREOF) OF A PERSONAL FRIEND WHO NORIEGA TRIED TO HIRE AND ADD TO THE CURRENT SOCIAL WORKER STAFF AT ASH. THIS "YOU SCRATCH MY BACK I'LL SCRATCH YOUR BACK" MENTALITY IS CLASSIC IN TERMS OF UNLAWFUL NEPOTISM PREVALENT IN MANY IF NOT MOST OVERLY BUREAUCRATIC STATE AGENCIES, AND AS THE RECORD SHOWS TO DATE, THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE AT ASH, AND UPWARDS INTO THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES SYSTEM. 

"Following review and discussion by members, Mr. Mitchell moved, seconded by Ms. Dawson, to find a violation of A.R.S. §32-3251(12)(c)(i), any oral or written misrepresentation of a fact by a licensee to secure or attempt to secure the issuance of a license. The motion passed unanimously."

News Flash: Donna Noriega- Busted! March 09, 2012: The Current Chief Operating Officer at the Arizona State Hospital Found In Violation of Arizona Revised Statute 32-3251(12(c)(i) By The State Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. Censured, as per the findings of Case #2012-0047, convened under the authority of the Arizona SOCIAL WORK CREDENTIALING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Friday, March 9, 2012.
(NOTE: Since then, this individual has been promoted to the highest position of authority at ASH.)

And while I am not in a position to update this blog with the newest data about ASH CEO Donna Noriega's ongoing misconduct as it is now being researched by the staff of PJ Reed The Arizona State Hospital and Patient Abuse, I am able to say this much: She comes off as believable, for the most part, capable of exhibiting a seemingly pleasant personality and associated behavioral characteristics; but this how it almost always goes when it comes to high ranking officials in any broken system of bureaucracy. Snakes personified- they'll smile at you while picking your pocket. The first time that I personally interacted with Noriega was in late summer, 2011, approximately five months after my admission to ASH, and at a point in time when I was attempting to expose the abusive conduct of an ASH technician named Elaine Traylor, who I attest to having physically assaulted me while I was being administered my daily anti-depressant medication. I initially believed that Noriega, who was at that time the acting Chief Operating Officer at ASH, was someone that I or any patient could reasonably rely upon in terms of our given rights and associated care needs, for indeed, her seemingly pleasant personality and apparent intelligence enabled her to give me that impression. But not long after that initial meeting, I came to realize the hard way how deeply dishonest this woman is, in fact. And today, as indicated in the aforementioned data developments, I am again needing to take a good hard look at the unlawful manner in which she is attempting to further the grossly illegal violations of ASH patient rights across the board. I will update this blog in the context when I deem it appropriate.

In the meantime: BE AFRAID, DONNA NORIEGA. YOUR TIME IS NEAR AT HAND. 

The following is a rerun of an article originally published in 2012.

RE: Donna Noriega. BUSTED! 

This woman, who was very recently found guilty and subsequently censored for gross untruthfulness (LYING!) while functioning in her licensed position as a state certified social worker, is currently filling the position of (interim) Supervisor at the Arizona State Hospital. This is the second time in three years that ASH is operating with no duly hired supervisor (the last time being April-August 2011), which I contend is due to the fact that ADHS director Will Humble and his underlings in AZ Behavioral Health Services cannot maintain consistent leadership at ASH. Via my very real experiences and learned understanding of the shortfalls currently impacting all ASH patients flow of medical-mental health treatment, I feel this particular dynamic indicates that ADHS/BHS officials consider the operation of the state's sole long term public hospital to be of minor concern, in spite of the fact that over 260 seriously mentally ill and disabled patients are undergoing residential treatment there within the facility itself.

Of equal concern is the fact that when these obviously reoccuring gaps in reasonably qualified and duly hired executive supervision at The Arizona State Hospital arise, Donna Noriega- an individual who was very recently found to willfully engage in unlawful abuse of her authority as per the terms of her licensure as a certified Arizona social worker- is the person who Will Humble and company feel can reasonably tend to the overall affairs of  ASH. The last time ASH was being operated without a duly hired supervisor (summer 2011), Noriega and her associates in the administrative offices of ASH (inc. but not limited to Dr. Stephen Dingle, Dr. Stephen Morris, and ASH's formal legal counsel, Joel Rudd of the state attorney general's office) willfully opted to cover up the violent escape of a patient named Jesus Rincon Murietta, in clear violation of the the public trust and related law and policy, which in turn directly contributed to the brutal murder of a young Phoenix woman named April Mott (SEE "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free", by JJ Hensley - Sept. 28, 2011 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic). Nowhere else in the world of public business affairs would we see a person such as this granted a leadership position, but at ASH, it is business as per the usual.

AS FOLLOWS:

SOCIAL WORK CREDENTIALING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Friday, March 9, 2012

C. 2012-0047, Donna Noriega, LCSW-10959

Ms. Rinaudo summarized the results of the investigation.
The professional appeared in person and addressed the committee.

Following review and discussion by members, Mr. Mitchell moved, seconded by Ms. Dawson, to find a violation of A.R.S. §32-3251(12)(c)(i), any oral or written misrepresentation of a fact by a licensee to secure or attempt to secure the issuance of a license. The motion passed unanimously.

Following further discussion, Mr. Mitchell moved, seconded by Mr. Lankton, to recommend to the Board to accept a consent agreement that stipulates the following:

•   An order of censure 
•   Completion of 6-clock hours of continuing education in clinical supervision to be completed within 
  one year 
•   Completion of a minimum of 6-clock hours of NASW Staying Out of Trouble or its equivalent to be 
  completed within one year 
•   Early release is available upon completion of the required education 
  The motion passed unanimously. 

APPLICABLE LAW: Arizona Revised Statute $32-3251 

(definitions) In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1."Board" means the board of behavioral health examiners.

5. "Licensee" means a person licensed pursuant to this chapter.

12. "Unprofessional conduct" includes the following, whether occurring in this state or elsewhere: (a) Conviction of a felony. Conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction or a plea of no contest is conclusive evidence of the conviction. (b) Use of fraud or deceit in connection with rendering services as a licensee or in establishing qualifications pursuant to this chapter. (NORIEGA, IN THIS CASE) (c) Any oral or written misrepresentation of a fact by an applicant or licensee. (NORIEGA, IN THIS CASE) ----------------------------------------------------      I have already directly communicated with The Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners specific to my knowledge that not only is Donna Noriega willfully engaging in grossly deceitful abuses of her granted authority at The Arizona State Hospital, but as/more importantly, that each and every assigned social worker who I happened to interact with during my 13 long months as ASH engaged is clearly unlawful conduct as a matter of standard of practice. Said misconduct in my experience includes:      1)Willfully lying to me- on more than one occasion- about my status in relation to outpatient services prior to my Feb. 2012 discharge, misconduct which did in fact greatly complicate my discharge planning and directly threatened my well being in terms my optimum post-ASH life planning (Megan Mischner);       2) Deliberately denying me access to my general ASH medical records in complicity with hospital administrators, in gross violation of my rights under the Hospital Information Portability and Protection Act; misconduct which I contend directly contributes to the disturbingly unlawful cloak and dagger means by which senior ASH clinicians and administrators get away their unlawful conduct, across the board (Robert Washington);       3) And deliberately denying me the right to bring a personally appointed representative into very crucial Inpatient Treatment and Discharge Planning meetings, an action that cuts to the core of any hospital patient's most fundamental rights in terms of self-determination, equal protection, and essential well being in every sense (Veneranda Heffern).

      Social worker staff at The Arizona State Hospital have inordinate control over some of the most critical aspects of any/all patients' personal affairs, this in terms of any patient's array of social welfare needs during their given period of hospitalization at ASH, as well as in relation to any patient's actual discharge planning. I attest to having been subjected to these forms of administrative misconduct (above) purely on the basis of me being a seriously mentally ill and disabled person, including blatant lying and misrepresentation of facts central to my status and needs as an Arizona citizen. It may not be obvious to anyone not dependent upon such individuals how deeply detrimental misconduct of this nature is, but the fact is, as per the limited legal autonomy of persons affected by serious mental illness, the ASH social workers are arguably the most crucial non-medical feature of any ASH patient's overall life interests. Likewise, in terms of planned outpatient care (prior to any scheduled discharge from ASH), seriously mentally ill persons rely 100% on their assigned social workers to coordinate all aspects of said discharge planning. Somehow (it is somewhat beyond me to understand), the questionable administration of the ASH operation has led to the establishment of a staff of licensed social workers who are just as willing and capable to engage in unlawful misconduct as are the senior clinicians. It is as though they all emerged from the same netherworld of deceit and wrongdoing, and I further attest that the presence of such corruption caused me very undue harm at the time that it was occurring, and that I witnessed a number of my former patent-peers going through these same forms of abuse in a nearly daily basis. 

     The bottom line, as per the above data, is that Donna Noriega  is a patent liar. That fact is the meat of her known character, as per the findings of the SOCIAL WORK CREDENTIALING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, on Friday, March 9, 2012, Case #2012-0047, Donna Noriega, (LCSW-10959), as well per my own very real interactions with her. Ergo, given the fact that this known liar is also technically the highest ranking social worker at ASH (with more accrued experience at ASH than any other social worker there), and herein, with her now proven willingness to break the law while functioning in context of her licensure in mind, I find it deeply unsettling to accept the fact that she's been granted full trust and related authority in a setting as graphically volatile as ASH, with all potential forms of known discrimination at ASH towards the seriously mentally patients at there forefront of my concerns, to date. It is- simply stated- wrong, wrong, wrong, and clearly needs to be addressed. Now.  

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IN CLOSING:  Indeed, in my learned opinion as an Arizona taxpayer/consumer/citizen, the simple fact that a person known to have engaged in clearly unlawful abuse of her granted authority as a certified state practitioner (in any context) would be allowed to continue functioning in her original position in a facility such as The Arizona State Hospital is 100% unacceptable.  But adding to that, the fact that this person has been granted interim status as ASH's highest ranking executive officer, takes this issue to a much deeper degree of concern. Where does it end, this atrociously unreasonable mishandling of the ASH operation in general? Who has to die next? Will it be another patient (such as Chris Blackwell)? A member of the greater public (such as April Mott), who if not for this grossly corrupted system of mismanagement would never have any relationship at all to ASH? I contend that the threats are vast and somewhat predictable; and that in general, anybody undergoing treatment at ASH is inevitably going to suffer some form of undeniable harm that these sorts of arrangements are known to cause. 

THE ARIZONA STATE HOSPITAL: SUBSTANDARD MEDICAL-MENTAL HEALTH CARE- AND THEY ARE STILL GETTING AWAY WITH IT LOCK-STOCK-AND BARREL.

paoloreed@gmail