Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (GC-MHRS) - May 29, 2024
Meeting Details: GC-MHRS Board held its regular monthly meeting on May 29, 2024 at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in person only with no recording available. No agenda was available in advance on the website or on social media, but the agenda is available through a request to Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater by email at tslater@geauga.org.
Public Comment Policy: No formal policy but in practice, public comment is permitted at the end of the meeting.
Board Members Attending: Chair Steven Oluic, Vice Chair Alberta Chokshi, Secretary Jimmy Lee Holden, and Board Members Reba Dykes, Kathy Johnson, Douglas Lundblad, Patricia Varanese, Carolee Lesyk and Mary Ruth Shumway.
Board Members Absent: Treasurer Michael Petruziello
Staff Members Attending: Executive Director Christine Lakomiak, Clinical/Compliance Manager Michelle Maneage, Finance Director Jim Mausser, and Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater.
Service Providers:; Charles Tong, Chief Financial Officer, Lake-Geauga Recovery; Andrea Gutka, Executive Director, Women Safe; Angela Daugherty, Executive Director, Family Pride; Tia Lawrence, Executive Director, Torchlight, and Mary Peaspanen of Signature Health.
Guests: Carolyn Brakey, member of the Geauga Public Health District Board and candidate for Commissioner of Geauga County, and this LWVG Observer.
Call to Order, Roll Call, and Pledge of Allegiance occurred as listed on the agenda. The meeting was called to order at 6:01 pm by Secretary Holden.
Minutes from the April 17, 2024, meeting were approved. Minutes are posted on the Board’s webpage here.
Chairman’s Report: Dr. Oluic reported on the following:
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“It was another bad month for suicides.”
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There are discussions about reducing the number of board members to 12. He said it was difficult to get people to serve. (Observer Note: See information during public comment later in the meeting)
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Dr. Oluic explained that proposals for the service partners being discussed at the meeting were made with the “best intention” in mind in terms of allocating funds and serving the public.
Executive Director’s Report:
Ms. Lakomiak stated there was a lot to cover.
Ms. Maneage attended the sequential mapping program “Stepping Up”. There were 20 agencies, and NEOMED (Northeast Ohio Medical University) led them through exercises to identify resources and gaps in resources. They also identified priorities, collaborations, transportation and housing access, mobile crisis, 911 and 988 utilization, mental health stabilization, and detox (which was stated to be a need or a gap).
NEOMED will continue to provide ongoing supervision and guidance. Staff are optimistic that this will result in positive change.
Board Member Johnson stated that she had attended as an observer and was very impressed with the process.
Ms. Lakomiak said she was surprised that service providers did not know that 988 was available in Geauga County. All of the groups there chose three items to work on for the future.
RFP (Request for Proposals) Process - Ms. Lakomiak described the process with service providers. She noted that in the prior year she had just been hired and so they chose to just fund all partner service agencies at prior levels. Then they hired Ms. Manage, and they have been able to dive into each program and really identify measurable outcomes that would be expected. All prior provider agencies have submitted their Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to the GC-MHRS Board.
The Budget for next year anticipates $9 million in revenue, although the Ohio MHAS (Mental Health and Addiction Services) hasn’t announced their contribution. The Board has received $9.6 million in requests. The Board also has other mandates and expenses. Ms Lakomiak acknowledged that there were tough decisions that had to be made. She described the process of recommending funding as follows: Staff looked at each agency’s audits along with requests and received billing (what was actually billed for the requested service in the past). They looked at whether the Agency had other sources of funding. She noted that they are the “payor of last resort.” She mentioned that the GC-MHRS needs to consider mitigating factors to avoid any potential GC-MHRB budget deficit; these include grants the partner agencies can apply for, that the agencies don’t always spend their full amounts, and that there are often funds that carry over and aren’t spent.
Ms. Lakomiak said that staff met with all providers and gave them an opportunity to present to the Board. None of the agencies chose to make a presentation to the Board. She stated that some programs cannot be fully funded.
Committee Reports
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Finance Committee: Mr. Petruziello was absent and so there was no report.
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Planning and Policies Committee: Board Member Chokshi said that they focused on the public record policy and that the Board members had all received a copy in their packet. Instead of asking for changes now, they decided to wait until after the new Board chair might be elected in July 2024. They wanted to next review the areas of change of command and performance review for the Director.
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Capital Planning/Housing Committee:
Ms. Dykes reported that the architects for the Transitional Living Center update and expansion have produced drawings and they expect to have costs in the next week or so. They expect to go out to bid in July. The renovation will increase the number of beds from 9 to 16 and increase the entire Center’s functionality. She said that It will also make the entire space “beautiful.”
Board Review and Action Items - The following Resolutions were all approved:
Resolution 24-05-1 System of Care Funding Allocations for SFY2025 for the following amounts: Approved
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Family First Council (2nd half allocation to be reviewed $275,000.00
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Crisis Stabilization and Hospital Inpatient $68,800.00
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Residential Services $32,000.00
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Special Projects Fund $10,000.00
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Medication Subsidy $ 8,000.00
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Community Education/Prevention $70,000.00
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Trauma Informed Care and Response $15,000.00
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Risk Pool Allocation $30,000.00
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Total $508,800.00
Ms. Shumway asked about Family First and Ohio Rise (which is a program from the Governor’s office). Ms. Lakomiak said that there is a meeting planned for this Friday. Observer Note: Ohio Rise is a new managed care program for youth as detailed here. Like Family First, it serves children with multiple needs. Ms. Lakomiak said that it is possible that Family First will not need the additional 2nd half allocation, which will be reviewed later.
Resolution 24-05-2 Administrative Budget for SFY2025 - The Budget for the Board’s Operational and Community Education budget for 2025 was approved in the amount of $635,655.00. Ms. Lakomiak stated that this budget includes the addition of another staff member for 2025. There was no discussion and this was approved.
Observer Note: The Resolutions which follow are all for the service agencies for 2025. Ms. Lakomiak offered a highlight for most agencies.
All the following Resolutions were approved:
Resolution 24-05-3 Torchlight Allocation for SFY2025 - $85,000. There are two programs. There is a goal to increase utilizing this program for foster care children.
Resolution 24-05-4 Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers Allocation for SFY2025 - $373,570. Ms. Lakomiak stated that their original request was for additional money, but they were able to ask the County Commissioners for money from the Opiate Fund, which they received.
Resolution 24-05-5 Geauga Sheriff Grant Award for SFY2025 (LOSS - Location Outreach Support to Survivors Program) - $4,500 Ms. Lakomiak stated that this program is known as the best in Ohio. She noted that this was a grant and not an RFP.
Resolution 24-05-6 NAMI Geauga Allocation for SFY2025 - $68,710.95 - Ms. Lakomiak stated that she asked NAMI to focus on what they are doing well. This contract is not for all their programs. One thing that she asked NAMI to do was to partner with the Board for more community education. There was discussion with the Board about what kinds of programming, and Ms Lakomiak stated that it could be “Mental Health First Aid” or “Signs of Suicide.” These could be presented to groups such as First Responders, Coaches, Parents, etc. Ms. Lakomiak stated that this is part of the mission of the Board, but they haven’t had staff to do a lot of community outreach.
Resolution 24-05-7 WomenSafe Allocation for SFY2025 - $45,183.60 - Ms. Lakomiak noted that WomenSafe does provide a lot of counseling and they did increase the amount for counseling. They declined to fund another program and a new request for a part-time care coordinator. She stated that the program for ESL (Emotional, Social Learning - see here for more information) should be funded by school districts and not the Board. The Director of WomenSafe was present and was permitted to speak at this time. Ms. Gutka said that the ESL programs in the schools do not present information on healthy relationships in the way that WomenSafe does. She also said that the $3,000 for the part-time care coordinator was to manage their wait list and contact those on the waitlist and offer them referrals to other sources for help in the county while they are waiting to come off the waitlist.
Ms. Bagley asked if the Board has sufficient funds to cover this request. Dr. Oluic said that it wasn’t a matter of money but that ESL provides evidence-based programming in the school. Ms. Lakomiak said that schools get funding for this and that it isn’t a mandate of the Board to provide this in the schools.
Resolution 24-05-8 Family Pride Allocation for SFY2025 - $76,200 - There were no comments.
Resolution 24-05-9 Catholic Charities Allocation for SFY2025 -$189,700. This will include a shift to increase case management self sufficiency. Ms. Lakomiak stated that a lot of other organizations utilize this type of case management. Ms. Shumway stated that Catholic Charities have been well respected and good for clients.
Resolution 24-05-10 Ravenwood Heath Allocation for SFY2025 - $3,038,150. Ms. Lakomiak stated that Vicki (Vicki Clark, President and CEO) “went after” getting the 988 help line and Geauga is one of 12 counties in Ohio to have 988. She said that they need to advertise it better. For Mental Health Residential Care they combined the rate for crisis and regular care. A question was asked about the amount for CIT (Crisis Intervention Training). Ms. Lakomiak said they had allocated $10,000/year - that this was the request, but it is not for a full- time person.
Resolution 24-05-12 Signature Health for SFY2025- $8,000. This is for HIV Aids education to high risk groups - jails, residential treatment, etc. Ms. Lakomiak said that they are not going into the schools with this training.
Financial Reports. Mr. Mausser gave this report.
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In the State calendar year ( 7/1/23-6/30/24), the Board - through April - has expended 77.4% of their office budget.
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In the County calendar year (1/2/24-12/31/24) Budget Performance Report, they have expended just over $2.57 million through April.
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The Auditor’s Fund Balance: April unencumbered Balance Is just over $2.37 million
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Voucher recap for April: $630,271.75
Old Business - Dr. Oluic said that Greg O’Brien had submitted his resignation citing personal and professional time constraints. Observer Note: Mr. O’Brien was an appointment by the County Commissioners.
New Business - Mr. Martin Fay said that his term will be expiring at the end of June and that he would not be able to attend the June meeting, so this would be his last meeting. Observer Note: Mr. Fay was an OH-MHAS appointment. Ms. Bagley’s appointment by OH-MHAS is also expiring but she did not address this at the meeting.
It was reported that Brad Welch, Family Services Coordinator for Family First, is retiring. Ms. Shumway thought that a recognition of Mr. Welch would be appropriate.
Ms. Lakomiak stated that the June meeting would be the Annual Meeting, and there will be a presentation of highlights and successes.
Public Comments
This observer asked for clarification about the statement made earlier in the meeting that there was a possibility that the Board will be reduced in size. Dr. Oluic responded that it was difficult to get people to serve on the Board. Ms. Lakomiak said that the Commissioners (under new rules passed by OH-MHAS) would make the recommendation as to size and that the staff had met with the Commissioners. A Board size of 12 would result in 8 appointments by the Commissioners and 4 from the State. Ms. Shumway asked what the Board composition would be if the decision was made to stay at a level of 14, and Ms. Lakomiak said it would stay at 8 appointed by the Commissioners and 6 by the State. Ms. Lakomiak also said that there was no requirement that the Board establish committees, which they have done in the past.
Ms. Gutka, Executive Director of WomenSafe, read a statement. She stated that she has been involved with WomenSafe for 25 years and that the funding provided to them has been static for most of that time. They receive about $40,000 from the Board, which is the same amount they have received for the past 20 years. She stated that they can’t do more unless they receive more funds. Ms Gutka further said that of the 52 similar agencies in the State, the average that is received is $150,000 per agency a year.
There was no discussion about this statement.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 6:55 pm.
Board Minutes: Available at https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/
Next meeting: The next meeting will be on June 26, 2024, at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024
More Information: https://www.geauga.org/
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: 06/03/24
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