Supervisors receive update on crisis intervention program

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County coordinator of disability services, Sarah Berndt, briefed the board of supervisors on the new crisis intervention program currently active at Henry County Health Center?s emergency department, and it seems some kinks are still being worked out in what is otherwise being labeled a positive addition to mental health care in the county.

As the program is still in its start-up stage, Berndt says minor issues were to be expected. However, after speaking with the Henry County Board of Supervisors, the issues seem to be relatively minor.

?There seems to be some improvements we can still make with regard to communication between the different departments involved,? said Berndt. ?Reiterating how the communication chain of command works seems to be the main thing we need to focus on at this point.?

HCHC signed on to work with Hillcrest Family Services to provide a crisis intervention team that will help to facilitate mental health intervention services as needed in HCHC?s emergency room.

This program provides on-call, part-time crisis mental health assessment professionals Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are meant to work in conjunction with emergency room nurses and physicians to provide the best possible discharge disposition for a patient admitted to the ER that is experiencing mental health issues.

So far, Berndt says the county has already seen some success with the program, and insists the Hillcrest crisis intervention team members are forming positive partnerships with HCHC?s emergency room staff.

?Hillcrest has been actively assisting in cases at HCHC and has been evaluating patients in a caring and ethical way,? said Berndt. ?According to reports I have received, both HCHC and Hillcrest staff are happily working together. We just need to continue learning how to better our process of communication with one another.?

Supervisor Marc Lindeen says he will look into ways the Henry County Board of Supervisors can facilitate more open communication and act as a sounding board for all parties involved in the program to answer questions as they arise.

Looking to the future, Berndt says the county would like to see the program?s hours of operation extend even further, but insists those plans are still farther away.

Besides talk of the crisis intervention team, Berndt also touched base on the county?s general assistance plan in terms of funding for home and apartment rental assistance, and suggested increasing the amount available. The county has not changed their funding for rental assistance since 2004.

?My suggestion is to bump our amount up to $500 in order to keep with the average cost of rental housing in Henry County,? said Berndt. ?For utilities, I think $200 is adequate, which is where we are now.?

In most cases, individuals who qualify for this type of assistance would receive funding for a month?s worth of rent at their current residence. The maximum amount available for an individual is set at $500 across the board, so any existing rent due above $500 would have to be paid by the individual out of pocket.

The board did agree to increase the county?s rental assistance amount to $500 per individual.

In other board news, it was moved to approve a county budget amendment for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. County auditor and board secretary, Shelly Barber, said the amendment was to be expected and that there were no major issues with the county budget at the present time.

?We are simply raising our revenue and increasing our expenditures,? said Barber. ?We have to amend the budget almost every year to make sure that we aren?t going over in certain fund balances.?

According to Barber, she has not received any public comment on the budget change and there were no public comments made regarding the budget amendment during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

Also during Thursday?s meeting, the board discussed the following:

?The board approved an amendment to the electronic transaction clearinghouse 28E agreement with the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC)

? Teresa Roberts, of Southeast Iowa Case Management (SICM), presented a renewal of SICM?s 28E agreement with Henry County, which the board approve

? Berndt reviewed some of the county?s HIPPA rules and regulations with the board

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be on Tuesday, June 2, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.