PRESS RELEASE – An additional $790,000 in service contracts for the fiscal year starting July 1 was approved by the Four County ADAMhs Board at its May meeting on Thursday afternoon.
However, board CEO Tonie Long told members that there is far less certainty about how much state and federal funding the board will receive next year than is typical – particularly because of potential federal funding cuts and how some of those cuts could subsequently affect state funding for behavioral health services.
She explained that nearly 58 percent ($4.4 million) of this year’s $7.6 million board budget comes from local property taxes. State funds account for some 29 percent of the budget and federal funds are the remaining 13 percent.
“Right now, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is telling us to expect roughly the same amount of state funding next year,” Long told the board. “However, they are not prepared to offer any guarantees on federal funding for behavioral health services.”
That uncertainty, Long added, becomes even more complicated if federal funding to Ohio for Medicaid services is reduced.
If that should occur, Long said, Governor DeWine has said that Ohio’s Medicaid expansion to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which took effect in 2014, would be at risk.
Long told the board that nearly 6,000 adult residents of Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties are currently eligible for Medicaid funded healthcare because of that expansion.
Therefore, she added, there is a risk that the Four County ADAMhs Board could become responsible for paying the cost of behavioral health services for those individuals.
“So, there are a lot of unknowns right now,” Long said. “But, despite that uncertainty, we need to move forward with contracts that will provide our residents with behavioral health services that can help them live satisfying, productive lives.
“The contracts before you and those that were approved last month offer valuable services for individuals, families and even employers with employees who deal with behavioral health issues.
“The range of services that these contracts offer,” Long said, “promote better health and opportunities for a better life for our neighbors.”
She also noted that all of the board’s contracts with providers include provisions that allow revisions to be made if board funding is ever reduced.
Contracts approved by the board in May for the fiscal year starting July 1 include:
•Children’s Resource Center in Bowling Green, $30,000 for youth crisis stabilization.
•Long term residential and special placement agreements with the county Jobs and Family Services offices and Juvenile courts for youth and young adults, $110,000.
•Northwest Ohio CASA, $25,000 to support child advocates in complex placement and custody cases in counties served by the board.
•Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center, $80,000 to support school navigation services at the Independence Education Center that will support school staff and families of students served.
•Together We Can Make a Difference, a Napoleon non-profit, $5,000 to provide personal care and toiletry items for clients served by ADAMhs-funded agencies. The agencies make clients who can benefit from the service aware of what’s available and help them access the services.
•Recovery Services of Northwest Ohio, $200,000 federally funded women’s grant for counseling and residential services. The board anticipates receiving the official “notice of award” sometime in the summer.
It has been received for more than 20 years. Long explained that if the grant is not funded by the federal government then board staff would look for other ways of support the services.
•SARAH’s House of Defiance County, $25,000 (an increase of $10,000 over the current year), to support the organization’s victim assistance program for children and adults who are victims of violence.
•Guardianship Services Board serving the juvenile/probate courts in Defiance, Fulton and Williams counties, $55,000 to provide administrative guardianship services for persons with mental health issues.
•Amanda Waldfogel, up to $3,000 to serve as an advocate/support group leader for the board.
•Multi-Area Narcotics Unit, $20,000 support a substance abuse, mental health liaison position.
•Drug-Free Coalitions, $90,000 with $25,000 of that amount to support each of the drug-free coalitions operated by the Defiance, Fulton and Williams county health departments, and $15,000 to support the Swanton Area Community Coalition.
•NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Four County, $7,000 for public awareness and education services.
•Special docket courts, $140,000 with $35,000 for each of the following courts: Williams County common pleas court (drug court), Fulton County common pleas court (drug court), Williams County juvenile court specialty docket, and Henry County juvenile court specialty docket.
These courts place an emphasis on treatment compliance rather than detention or incarceration for qualifying offenders.
Long noted that with the approval of these contracts in May, the board’s approved contracts for the new fiscal year total about $6.5 million – nearly $1 million less than what had been approved by this time last year, primarily due to the lack of capital improvement funding in this budget cycle.
The board also approved two board governance issues. It decided to keep the total number of board members at 18. State law allows boards to have 15 members, if a board so chooses.
And, a slate of officers for the fiscal year starting July 1 was proposed with the actual vote to occur in June. Nominated are John Nye of Napoleon for board chairperson and Tod Hug of Liberty Center for vice-chairperson.
