With a new fiscal year starting in less than three months, the Four County ADAMhs Board awarded nearly $4.7 million in contracts for a variety of mental health, addiction and related healthcare services.
The largest contracts were awarded to Maumee Valley Guidance Center, $1,550,000, and Recovery Services of Northwest Ohio, $1,200,000.
Also receiving contracts at the April board meeting were Four County Family Center, $528,232; the Fulton County Health Center (Stress Unit), $400,000; First Call for Help, Inc., $315,000; New Home Development Company, $262,000; Health Partners of Western Ohio, $231,000; the Center for Child and Family Advocacy, $126,511; and Northwest Ohio Community Action Commission (The P.A.T.H. Center), $65,000.
Several smaller contracts were also approved for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Those include Glenn Adult Foster Care in Toledo, $11,800; Unison Behavioral Health, $3,600; and attorney Carla Davis for representation at commitment hearings at the rate of $110 per hour.
Additional contracts for next year will be brought to the board for approval in May and June.
The board approved the following appropriations for the current fiscal year: Williams County Department of Job and Family Services, up to $26,000 as the board’s share of a residential placement; Maumee Valley Guidance Center, $7,600 for a group home placement; First Call for Help, $5,000 for emergency transportation costs; Defiance County Health Department, $600 for the Parents Who Host Lose the Most underage drinking awareness campaign; and the Fulton County Health Department, $1,000 for a consultant to review the county’s submission of a Drug-Free Communities grant renewal.
In his report to the board, CEO Les McCaslin said that mid-year budget correction bill has passed the Ohio House of Representatives and is now headed to the state senate. He noted that two items will affect behavioral health, although it is not entirely clear how the impact will be felt at this time.
First, the state is seeking to keep $47.5 million in funding next year that had been allocated directly to boards this year to meet local needs. The state intends to target this money on opiate addiction. This would mean a reduction of $340,000 in state funding to the Four County ADAMhs Board next year unless it is changed in the senate.
The budget also proposes that the state create 90 additional mental health crisis beds at six different locations across Ohio for the boards to use. If approved, a total of 540 additional mental health crisis beds would be created and more than 400 recovery beds would be created for opiate-related addiction.
The next meeting of the board will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14 at the ADAMhs Board office on State Route 66 south of Archbold.