The Four County ADAMhs Board voted to place a seven-tenths mill renewal levy on the November 3 ballot at its Thursday, June 11 meeting.
The property tax that supports a variety of behavioral health services for Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams county residents was first approved in 1982 and has been extended by voters every five years since then.
According to the Defiance County auditor, if the issue is approved again by voters in November it will generate nearly $2.29 million annually to support mental health, addiction and family violence services for four county residents who have limited income on a sliding fee basis.
The funding also supports mental health education and awareness programming to help residents better understand the importance of good mental health and to seek treatment services when needed.
During the past year, 9,574 adults and youth received treatment services funded by the ADAMhs Board. Additionally, 19,844 hours of educational and prevention programming were funded by the ADAMhs Board for area schools as well as law enforcement, social service providers and others.
In other action, the board approved service contracts for the fiscal year starting July 1.
Among those contracts were allocations for three in-patient behavioral healthcare systems that the ADAMhs Board uses throughout the year.
— St. Charles, Mercy Health System, up to $125,000 for adults needing in-patient psychiatric care.
— University of Toledo Medical Center, Kobacker, up to $250,000 for in-patient psychiatric services for children and adolescents.
— ProMedica Health System, up to $150,000 to provide in-patient psychiatric services for children, adolescents and adults.
Other contracts include:
— Williams County common pleas court, $12,000 to provide education, case management, conflict management, coaching and decision-making services for families with limited income whose children are involved with the court.
— Carla B. Davis, a Toledo attorney, to provide the board with legal representation during probate hearings at Toledo’s state psychiatric hospital at the rate of $135 an hour.
— NAMI Four County, $7,000 to support mental health awareness and education programming offered by the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
— Montgomery County ADAMhs Board and Cantata Health Solutions in an amount not to exceed $100,042 to provide management information, claims processing and consulting services related to the enrollment and billing of claims for clients receiving ADAMhs-funded services through June 30, 2028.
— Various providers who provide long term, Class 2 residential housing for four county residents, up to $140,000.
— Henry County Hospital, Fulton County Health Center, Parkview Bryan and Parkview Montpelier hospitals, up to $24,000 to be shared by all four facilities to provide indigent patient transportation from their hospital to an in-patient psychiatric hospital that has an available bed when that level of care is needed.
— Wood County ADAMhs Board, up to $25,000 to provide short term adult crisis stabilization services for persons who are screened and do not meet in-patient criteria, but present a safety risk for returning home.
The board also authorized Tonie Long, board CEO, to execute an agreement with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for up to $225,000 of funding for the Addiction Treatment Program.
That amount includes some $70,000 in carryover funds and an estimated $180,000 in additional funding for the treatment of individuals diagnosed with opiate and other substance use disorders.
Additionally, the board authorized Long to continue to execute the Recovery Housing Program, which includes up to $55,000 in funds that can be used to provide stable, transitional housing for persons in recovery from a substance use disorder.
The ADAMhs Board approved a new board office budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 of $707,550 — approximately $35,000 more than the office budget approved for the current fiscal year.
The ADAMhs Board also approved a resolution supporting a grant application that Triangular Processing in Wauseon has made for Ohio capital funding to complete work on The Legacy Center, a youth resiliency project in Wauseon.
The Legacy Center, formerly an indoor tennis facility, is a 31,000 square foot facility that Triangular Processing has begun to remodel to provide space for its programming, including Special Olympics, as well as make space available for community use.
Long stressed that the resolution does not commit any ADAMhs Board funding to the project. However, The Legacy Center would provide plenty of space in Fulton County to support the ADAMhs board’s goal of having more places that promote youth resiliency.
Finally, the board elected officers for the new fiscal year. Tod Hug will serve as board chairperson with John Nye as vice-chair.
In her report to the board, Long noted that the state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 will provide the Four County ADAMhs Board with the same level of funding as the current year’s budget.
Long also reported that B.J. Horner plans to resign as the board’s manager of community services effective August 7. She said, “B.J. has been an important part of our team and will be sorely missed.”
While working with the board and before that with Maumee Valley Guidance Center, Horner has worked to raise awareness of mental health, substance use, suicide and the resources available to help residents of the four county area.
She has been very involved with programming related to suicide awareness, prevention and assistance for persons whose lives have been impacted by the suicide of a loved one.