County burial program may be reviewed by supervisors

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Iowa Code says the county doesn?t have to do it, but Henry County budgets burial costs for indigents.

Sometime this fiscal year, however, the county may have to look at its budget for the program.

Currently, the county budgets $16,000 for burials. Generally, the county will pay $2,000 for each burial. Thus far during the fiscal year, county funds have been used for three burials, Sarah Berndt, county coordinator of disability services, told the Henry County supervisors during their regular meeting Oct. 22.

Although there is no cause for alarm yet, spending nearly half your fiscal budget in the first three-and-one-half months of the fiscal year could lead to problems down the road.

?Do we up the budget or reduce the amount we offer to the funeral homes?? Berndt asked the supervisors. ?We have to be cautious not to offer too high an amount (to funeral homes) or too low an amount. We have to find a happy medium.?

Supervisors said the county has had a burial program for a long time, gradually increasing the amount offered for funeral expenses over time.

The program is for Henry County residents only, meaning that if someone from a neighboring county residing in a nursing home in Henry County passes away, Henry County is not obligated to provide burial funds.

Berndt also noted that if the deceased has children or grandchildren, the offspring are told they have to shoulder the funeral expenses. ?That has screened out a lot of them (applications),? she noted.

?The (Iowa) code does not obligate a county for burial expenses, so it is a service you are providing for poor people in the county,? Berndt explained. ?I don?t want you to greatly exceed your budget. If you are two burials away from the maximum in January or February, you might want to revisit the policy.?

In her monthly report to the board, Berndt also touched on the Henry County Emergency Department (hospital) report for the first quarter, July-September, of the fiscal year.

The program?s focus is on residents with mental health issues. She said 11 individuals have been served during the time period with six of the 11 individuals going into the program voluntarily. Of the individuals entering the program voluntarily, 50 percent were hospitalized. Other data from the report is as follows.

? Five of the 11 individuals served were due to commitments being filed.

? Four of the five individuals that were seen due to commitments being filed were hospitalized.

? Seven of the 11 total individuals received subsequent outpatient treatment at Hillcrest Family Services.

? Of the four individuals who have not continued treatment, one was transferred to a 30-day substance abuse treatment facility; two individuals were identified having another outpatient provider in place; and one individual has an unknown status.

? Of the individuals who were not hospitalized, 100 percent have continued to receive treatment at Hillcrest Family Services following their visit to the hospital?s emergency department.

Berndt said she feels the program has been a big plus, adding that results of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center reveal that 70 percent of patients who leave the emergency department after a suicide attempt never attend their first outpatient appointment.

?Reducing the number of individuals voluntarily going to the hospital is a success because there are not that many acute (mental health) beds,? she said.

?We set this up to help the hospital,? Berndt continued. ?We used to have a lack of referral places. Now we have crisis appointments, outpatient mental health services, drop-in centers and integrated health homes. It is definitely a better system of out-patient care than it was two years ago.?

In remaining business, the supervisors:

? Approved a resolution transferring $200,000 from the community betterment fund to the secondary road funds. The community betterment account is comprised of the county?s local option sales tax funds. The $200,000 will be used to help fund the Benton Avenue road project.

? Learned from Supervisor Marc Lindeen that the Southeast Iowa Community Action Program has received a $25,000 increase it its grant to provide area preschool scholarships.

The supervisors meet again on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.