Investigations

Patricia Pratt , Director
(573) 751-8420

Lesley Miles , Assistant Director, (573) 751-9171

The Investigations Unit is located within the Office of General Counsel in the Director's Office. It is made up of a Director, who oversees five regions with each region containing a unit of investigators supervised by a regional supervisor. The Investigations Unit conducts all abuse and neglect investigations for the Department, which includes both state operated facilities and those occurring in the community where services are provided by licensed, certified or funded providers. The Regions are identified as follows:

Northwest Region: Troy Smith, Regional Supervisor, at 816-512-7125
Southwest Region: Destiny Plunkett, Regional Supervisor, at 417-629-3565
East Region: Richard Bland, Regional Supervisor, at 314-877-6118 or Brooke Mayfield, Regional Supervisor, at 314-877-3378
Southeast Region: Beckie Gierer, Regional Supervisor, at 573-592-3262
Central Region: Janelle Wilson, Regional Supervisor, at 573-751-8081

Complaints or event reports are primarily received in regional offices or by the Department's Office of Consumer Affairs. These are analyzed by key DMH administrators in the Divisions of Developmental Disabilities, Comprehensive Psychiatric Services and Alcohol and Drug Abuse who may request initiation of an investigation. The focus of the investigations are to identify system breakdowns which led to the event occurring and to identify any individual responsibility for committing abuse or neglect.

It is the policy of DMH to disqualify from employment any person who has committed abuse, neglect, or misuse funds/property acts that are Disqualification Registry qualifying offenses regarding individuals who are receiving services from the DMH. The Department's Office of Human Resources handles Registry inquiries and background screenings. All requests for Investigative Reports are reviewed by the General Counsel.