By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board and Harbor are continuing work to “wrap support around the individuals who were displaced” by the June 12 apartment complex fire at 311 Parkview Ave.
The fire was a huge loss for the county’s mental health housing pool, on top of an existing significant housing crisis, reported Amanda Kern, WCADAMHS executive director, at the August board meeting.
“We lost rooms that we couldn’t really afford to lose. The community response has been overwhelmingly positive, but there is still no long-term plan in place for the apartment complex,” she said.
She praised the local support including the case management team, peer supports from all the agencies, and the community at large that stepped up to help the individuals who lost their homes and most of their belongings.
Bowling Green State University provided temporary housing and local groups organized collection points for donations. The county board has hosted multi-agency meetings to bring in resources including state entities and numerous agencies to try to secure funding for these individuals,” Kern said.
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services provided $20,000 to help with some of the temporary needs. Kern has tried to secure additional funds from the state department but was told they would not provide additional funds for the individual’s needs at this time.
When asked about insurance on the property, Dustin Watkins, president and CEO of Harbor, said they are still determining if the complex is a total loss or if some of the complex is salvageable to build.
Harbor is the property manager, but the owner is a separate corporation, he said. Additionally, some of the renters had renter’s insurance.
“We are still working on the insurance, taking it frame by frame. It’s unprecedented, so it’s been one day at a time,” Watkins said.
Complicating the situation is that they are working with HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, he said. “We are waiting to hear if we can build off the existing site or if we need to start from scratch.”
Kern has discussed with Ohio MAS some of the options for the next steps. “Once we get through making sure everybody is placed, all of their items replaced, and everyone has all their needs met, then we’ll look at the plan moving forward,” she said.
“It was a tragedy for our (mental health) community, but it was amazing to see the community wrap support around our folks,” Kern said. “I don’t know if we’ve ever received so many phone calls as we did in June with people asking how they can help.”
RFP issued for mobile response and stabilization services
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services released the Request for Proposals for the regionalization of mobile response and stabilization services, Kern said.
The RFP seeks applicants to establish a contract as a regional provider of the state initiative to respond to youth experiencing mental health emergencies.
“We are huge advocates for Children’s Resource Center and are very proud of our mobile response program through them,” Kern said.
With the RFP, the mobile response initiative becomes a regional project. There will be a single regional provider, with the possibility of subcontracting county services.
“There is some anticipation that when this all plays out, it could eliminate the cost to us for our mobile crisis response program for kids,” she said. The cost savings would be approximately $400,000. “We are hopeful it will go well and that the funding will work the way it is intended.”
Levy season in full gear
The renewal levy for mental health services in Wood County will be on the November ballot.
WCADAMHS marketing and communications manager Kaylee Smith said thanks to the efforts of Judy Ennis, a former WCADAMHS board member, Dr. Rodney Rogers, Bowling Green State University president, and his wife Dr. Sandra Earle, University advocate, have agreed to chair the levy committee.
The marketing campaign for the levy will include five billboards, one each in Weston, Bradner, Rossford, North Baltimore and Bowling Green; buttons and mailers, and an active speaker’s circuit to present information about the levy to community groups.
The levy campaign overlaps with the board’s “heaviest community event time of the year,” Kern said. At the recent Wood County and Pemberville fairs, the board reached more than 3,600 people.
Also planned this fall are student-centered events at BGSU, a presentation by Laura Stack on Oct. 7 about the danger of high-dose THC marijuana, several Trunk or Treat events, provider appreciation week Sept. 16-20, Camp Fun on Sept. 9 for youths impacted by addictions and overdoses, and the annual meeting.
In other business, the board:
–Learned that an interpretation of rules has hampered the county mental health board’s ability to access Medicaid data. The data is necessary to determine Medicaid eligibility and utilization to ensure the county board is the payer of last resort and is paying for services that are not funded by Medicaid or somebody eligible for Medicaid.
–Continued discussions on committee formats and meetings, and by-laws and policies.
