The Four County ADAMhs Board approved several additional contracts for the current fiscal year at its September 9 meeting and also approved a resolution accepting the One Ohio lawsuit agreement against three large pharmaceutical distributors for contributing to the opioid crisis.
The ADAMhs Board participated in the class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical distributors AmericsourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corporation.
According to board CEO Rob Geisige, as one of many participants in the lawsuit, the four county board must apply for specific grants to the One Ohio Foundation that will be created to distribute most the funds coming to Ohio over the next 18 years.
The following contracts were approved by the board:
-Quadco Rehabilitation Center, up to $90,000 in federal Title XX funds to provide vocational and employment services.
-Midwest Recovery Center of Maumee, a state funded criminal justice behavioral linkage grant totaling $252,133 to provide opiate addicted inmates at CCNO with a Vivitrol shot to eliminate the high caused by opiates immediately prior to their release from CCNO along with scheduling the inmate’s initial treatment appointment.
-Northwest Ohio CASA, $25,000 to support the area’s court-appointed special advocates program for children in complex placement and custody cases. Many times those cases involve parents with a history of using or abusing alcohol and other drugs.
-Pillars of Success in Napoleon, $15,000 to provide individuals and families who are in early recovery from a substance use issues with transitional housing and supportive services.
-CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, $565,000 for a five year contract (at the rate of $113,000 a year) to provide the board with annual agency audits.
-Harbor Behavioral Health’s Devlac Grove Residential Services, $9,830 for the period of June 25 to August 9, 2021 for residential services for a four county resident.
Giesige told the board that the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities had assigned an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) employee to 23 northwest Ohio counties and 11 ADAMhs boards to assist with regional behavioral health initiatives and to help each board identify and apply for grants that would help the board better meet clients’ behavioral health needs. Giesige said transportation was identified as the priority need for the four county board.
He also updated the board on the roll-out of a pilot school navigator program for the Independence Learning Center.
Earlier this year, the Four County ADAMhs Board was one of only three boards in Ohio to receive funds from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
The funds allowed a school in each board area to hire a navigator who helps school staff and parents find resources for students with behavioral health issues that will improve student performance. Data is collected throughout the school year to measure the program’s effectiveness.
Giesige also outlined plans to promote the seven-tenths mill renewal levy that will be on the November ballot.