Mental health advocate to retire

Article published Jan 10, 2010 Mental health advocate to retire By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER – Leave it to Ken Libertoff – a basketball player for the University of Connecticut Huskies in the early 1960s — to explain his upcoming retirement in sports metaphors. "Like an aging athlete, it is my desire to end this phase of my career while I am still at (or at least near) the top of my game, sinking three pointers and chasing down backhands with reckless abandon," Libertoff wrote in a letter to friends and supporters earlier this month. Libertoff, the executive director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health, will retire from his job toward the end of this year, capping a nearly 30-year history of advocating for Vermonters with mental illnesses, substance abuse problems and disabilities. Speaking for populations that don't always have a strong voice in Montpelier's Statehouse is a job he takes seriously. Libertoff said he doesn't see himself as a lobbyist in the traditional sense – different from those lobbying for business groups at the Statehouse, for example – but as a "special interest advocate." "It's been my distinct privilege and pleasure to be a citizen’s advocate," said Libertoff, who turns 65 this week. When Libertoff began with the Montpelier association in 1981, it had no other staff and no money, and its list of supporters, written down on index cards, was washed out in a rainstorm while being stored in a car trunk. "I remember that we were lent a typewriter," Libertoff said. "There was one for sale for $10 at a little shop and someone bought it for us as a donation. Of course, there was a problem with the letter 'I' not working on it …" Things quickly changed. Under Libertoff's direction, the association became a vital voice for Vermonters as lawmakers debated tough issues. Every major mental health bill in Vermont since the early 1980s has Libertoff's fingerprints on it, from the 1997 law requiring that health insurers cover mental illness at the same level as physical maladies to the 2009 law banning gifts from the pharmaceutical industry to medical professionals. "I don't know anyone in the state who has done more for Vermonters with mental illness," said former Gov. Phil Hoff last week. "He's a very determined, very dedicated guy. He deserves top grades for what he has done." Raised in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, Libertoff attended the University of Connecticut and graduated in 1966 with a degree in English ("I spent more time in the gym than I did in the library," he joked). After graduation he was faced with two different paths: Join Connecticut's lucrative insurance industry or become a research assistant for a professor at Yale University. He opted for Yale and also began working with anti-poverty social groups in New Haven, bringing him into contact with the city's lost teenagers: runaways, dropouts and drug addicts. This social work had a profound effect on him; he soon enrolled at Harvard University and graduated from the college's clinical psychology and public practice program in 1978. His dissertation, which he completed after moving to Vermont in 1976, was on runaway children. Before joining VAMH, Libertoff served as the director of the Washington County Youth Service Bureau. Later he would also help found Voices for Vermont's Children, a statewide children's advocacy organization (then called the Vermont Children's Forum). A thread running throughout Libertoff's career has been his unwavering support for the system of nonprofit organizations that deliver services to at-risk Vermonters. That's not a universally popular sentiment in 2010 when the state government may cut support to these organizations due to the budget crisis. "Vermonters rely on these organizations for these services," he said. "I think that is under-appreciated sometimes when we get caught up in debates over salaries. You can say you have a community mental health system, or you can say you want a community mental health system, but if you don't fund it, it won't work." As an advocate in Montpelier, Libertoff is known for both his passion and humor. Last fall he jokingly gave Michael Hartman, commissioner of the state's Department of Mental Health, a Halloween devil's pitchfork after a disagreement over the closing of a cafeteria at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury. He introduced Gov. James Douglas at the mental health association's annual meeting by joking that the governor broke California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's arm to become the new chairman of the National Governors Association. Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, remembers meeting Libertoff in 1997 when she, as a consumer in the state's mental health system, testified before a Legislative committee on the parity bill. It was her first visit to the Statehouse and her first time talking to lawmakers about her own experiences. Right afterward, Libertoff came up to her and thanked her for testifying and encouraged her to continue adding her voice to the debate. Donahue said that experience – and Libertoff's encouragement — "was indirectly the beginning of my interest in running for the Legislature." "Ken's been a phenomenal asset to the state of Vermont by being a voice for a very vulnerable and often forgotten group," Donahue said. "The fact that he has been doing this for 30 years is a testament to his commitment. He's going to be impossible to replace." Libertoff sees a number of success stories during his tenure. The most recent was last year's ban on pharmaceutical marketing, after a state report revealed that drug companies paid doctors here more than $3 million in 2007. These financial relationships – often secret in most states – are an issue Libertoff takes very seriously. So seriously that several years ago he had his group vow to no longer accept donations of any kind from the medical industry. Several other Vermont medical groups soon followed his lead. "Vermont's disclosure bill sets a national standard for transparency," Libertoff said. "Vermont now has a firewall between the pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals." Libertoff's strong stances have earned him a reputation. Dozens of states have sought out his advice when considering new policy on mental health. He's been flown to South Africa twice to lead discussions about parity in health insurance coverage and train new advocates to develop more progressive public policies. That work led to Libertoff appearing twice on "South Africa Today," that country's version of "Good Morning America." "That was an incredible opportunity to expand my own horizons," Libertoff said. He hasn't picked an exact date for his retirement, but it probably will be sometime late this year. He also isn't saying what his post-retirement plans are; only that it is unlikely he will spend all his time playing tennis. Meanwhile, he is focused on this final Legislative session and helping the association's board of directors find a replacement. "There is a plan," Libertoff said. Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com