PRESS RELEASE – The Four County ADAMhs Board met March 13 to approve two contracts and the board’s new five-year strategic plan, but spent most of meeting learning how juvenile specialty court dockets interact with the area’s behavioral health providers and other family-serving agencies.
A $37,000 contract amendment was approved with the Northwest Ohio Community Action Commission to implement a program that gives landlords a financial incentive to provide housing for persons with a behavioral health issue.
Funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the program allows a cash incentive up to $2,000 for landlords who offer a 12-month lease to clients served by the ADAMhs Board system. Community Action is responsible for inspecting the housing prior to the lease to assure that it meets HUD standards.
A transportation contract worth up to $24,000 was approved with the Henry County Hospital and the Fulton County Health Center.
These state funds can be used by the hospitals to arrange medical transport for indigent patients from their hospital emergency room to an in-patient psychiatric hospital.
A new five-year strategic plan for the ADAMhs Board was also approved. Board and staff had been working on the updated plan for calendar years 2025 through 2029 since last fall.
Williams County juvenile court judge Karen Gallagher presented a training for ADAMhs Board members on how juvenile specialty court dockets work.
Judge Gallagher administers two specialty courts in Williams County – a family intervention docket and a juvenile treatment docket.
She explained how juveniles and their family are assigned to a specialty court, how each court interacts with behavioral health providers and other agencies such as family services, and how her court monitors youth and family progress while they are part of the specialty court docket.