PRESS RELEASE – After a summer break, the Four County ADAMhs Board welcomed three new members from Defiance County to its September meeting on Thursday (September 11).
The new members are Jill Mack, Nick Varano as well as Darrell Handy, who had previously served on the board for many years.
Board chair John Nye announced committee appointments for the fiscal year that started July 1.
It was also announced that the board will not renew a $90,000 federally funded Title XX contract with Quadco Rehabilitation Center when the federal fiscal year ends on September 30.
ADAMhs Board CEO Tonie Long explained that the number of qualifying behavioral health clients receiving job services from Quadco has dropped over the last few years from 12 to only one. She said that any unused funding from the current contract would be redirected to crisis services.
It was also announced that the board was working on a partnership with Fulton County Jobs and Family Services to provide training for staff of ADAMhs-funded agencies about the impact of changes in Medicaid rules for some clients whose behavioral health services are funded by Medicaid.
During her CEO report, Long said the regional disaster plan that six northwest Ohio ADAMhs boards, including Four County, had been working on is now completed.
Two trainings are part of the plan roll-out, including one that covered behavioral health threat assessment that was held in Archbold in August.
A second training to be held in Findlay will explain the disaster plan to county EMA directors, first responders and others who would be involved in events such as natural disasters and mass casualty events involving injury or death.
The boards had received a $300,000 grant through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act for Behavioral Health Disaster Preparedness to develop a written, comprehensive plan to provide behavioral health services after any type of disaster or crisis.
The plan explains how first responders can access behavioral health services for persons who have been affected by the disaster and details how providers across the region would coordinate services if the event was greater than one board area could handle on its own.
The grant also included $12,916 for the Four County Board to train additional staff of ADAMhs-funded providers in grief counseling.
Five contracts were also approved by the board, including:
-$110,000 behavioral health linkage grant for the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio to provide psychoeducation for opiate addicted inmates prior to their release.
-$10,000 for Sufficient Grace Ministries in Henry County to provide bereavement support, resources and training to help four county families who have experienced the loss of a baby or young child.
-$23,800 in carry-over funds for Northwest Ohio Community Action Commission to provide landlord incentive funds to encourage landlords to rent to persons with a criminal record who also have a mental health or substance use issue.
-$24,000 to be used to pay for transportation from hospital emergency rooms to an inpatient psychiatric hospital. The funds can be used by four area hospitals: Henry County Hospital, the Fulton County Health Center, Parkview Montpelier Hospital and Parkview Bryan Hospital.
-$55,000 for Patrick Henry Local Schools to provide school-based mental health programs and services by implementing mental health-related promotion, awareness, prevention, instruction and resiliency activities.