Berndt may direct jail diversion program

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County Coordinator of Disability Services/General Assistance Director Sarah Berndt may soon add the title of director of the jail diversion/transition program.

The jail diversion/transition program has two employees who meet with and assess incarcerated inmates at the Henry, Des Moines, Lee, Louisa and Washington County jails and provide jail-based intake screening, administer required assessments and facilitate connections to community-based services and supports.

Currently, the program is looking for both an employee and director.

Berndt said that a program employee, who also served as director, left in February and has not yet been replaced.

?We advertised but did not receive suitable applicants,? Berndt told the Henry County supervisors during their regular meeting Thursday. ?We interviewed three candidates and sent two of the candidates to interview with the sheriffs, but the sheriffs were not interested in either one.

Berndt said she has suggested to the Southeast Iowa Link Mental Health Region that Henry County have the contract on the program and she would be willing to serve as director.

?I have to see if Henry County is on board with this,? she told the supervisors. ?The five county coordinators of disability services and county sheriffs are on board with this.?

Supervisor Marc Lindeen said he thought, ?it was a smart idea.?

Berndt said finding a person to direct the program has been difficult. ?It?s been a struggle to hire someone. It requires a master?s degree and the way the job was posted (job description language), it made it difficult,? Berndt noted. ?The salary range also doesn?t attract strong candidates unless they are willing to take a pay cut.?

?I think we could start the process (of holding the contract for the program and employing the director) and determine what we want to do,? Lindeen said.

Berndt said she thought it would improve the program to have direct supervision.

The supervisors said they would put the matter on an agenda next week for further discussion.

Berndt also told the supervisors that a patient advocate has been hired for the mental health region and a second person has been offered a similar job and accepted.

?We will be fully staffed when the second person starts,? she noted.

Des Moines County is the employer for the patient advocates. The advocates serve the eight-county ? Henry, Des Moines, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa, Van Buren and Washington ? region.

One of the persons hired lives in Lee County and the other lives in Illinois, Berndt commented. ?Things will have to be worked out on how they break up the case loads in the individual counties,? she added.

Supervisor Gary See, in supervisor subcommittee reports, said he attended a regional meeting of the Iowa Workforce Development. He stated that Henry County?s unemployment in March 2016 was 4 percent, the same figure as in March 2015. Statewide, March unemployment was 3.8 percent.

The supervisors meet again in regular session Tuesday, May 3, at 9 a.m., at the county courthouse.