Board Shares Report on Community Assessment and Plan for 2026-2028
Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (GC-MHRS) - January 28, 2026
Meeting Details: GC-MHRS Board held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Road, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in person only with no recording available. The agenda was available through a request to Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater by email at tslater@geauga.org and at the meeting.
Observer note: There was no meeting in December and the January meeting (usually the third Wednesday of the month) was postponed one week.
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 Kathy Johnson, Secretary Jimmy Lee Holden, Treasurer Reba Dykes; Board Members: Douglas Lundblad, Michael Petruziello
Absent: Pat Varanese and Mary Ruth Shumway
Staff Members Attending: Executive Director Christine Lakomiak, Finance Director Jim Mausser, Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater, and Clinical/Compliance Manager Michelle Maneage.
Others Attending:
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Agency representatives: Melanie Blasko (Lake Geauga Recovery Center-LGRC), Michelle Bertman (Catholic Charities), Andrea Gutka (WomenSafe), Paul Bolino and Vicki Clark (Ravenwood Health), Mary Wayne-Peaspanen (Signature Health), Dianne Kellogg (Red Tulip), Tia Lawerence (Torchlight), Andrea Gutsko (WomenSafe), and Angi Daugherty (Family Pride)
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Community Members: Lee Miller, Linda Miller and this LWV-Geauga Observer
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Press: Brandon Lichtinger (Geauga Maple Leaf)
Call to Order, Roll Call, and Pledge of Allegiance - The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm. Roll call and Pledge of Allegiance occurred as listed on the agenda.
Minutes: Minutes from the November 19, 2025 Regular Meeting were approved.
Chairman’s Report - Dr. Oluic reported:
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2026 will be a year of change particularly for Ravenwood Health and Lake Geauga Recovery Center. Vicki Clark was recognized for her many years of service at Ravenwood Health. Reviewer Note: Ms. Clark was recognized for her service at the Board of County Commissioners Meeting on January 27, 2026. Most recently she served for 22 years as CEO (Chief Executive Officer). Ravenwood is merging with Community Counseling of Ashtabula and becoming Ravenwood Health of Geauga and Ashtabula, effective February 2, 2026. Ms. Clark is retiring.
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Addressing Federal funding vulnerability, Chairman Oluic stated that he and Director Lakomiak recently received notification of a national $2 Billion cut in Federal Funding. The cuts were to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funds . Although the White House rescinded this notice 4 hours later, the experience was a dire reminder of how dependent GC-MHRS is on this funding. This was a wake-up call that service providers need to have contingency plans in the current volatile environment.
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The Transitional Living Center (TLC) ribbon cutting will be in March. Dr. Oluic commented that TLC is nearing completion and is a very nice building. He said that with completion of the TLC, the Board has achieved a major goal of expanding their facilities.
Executive Director’s Report - Director Lakomiak discussed the following:
Statewide updates
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When Recovery Housing started many years ago, it did not have any kind of certification. There were problems in the past all over the country when anyone could call their facility “recovery housing” and often not provide services. In Ohio there are now requirements and recovery housing facilities have to be licensed. Director Lakomiak noted that Lake-Geauga Recovery Center’s houses (through the efforts of Melanie Blasko) have always been certified, even before it was required. With Certification now required, the Board will be informed of violations and complaints and will become involved to resolve issues. There will be a formal link between Recovery Housing and their local MHRSC boards across the state.
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A 988 (Crisis Hotline) Mini grant was awarded to GC-MHRS to be used to increase community awareness of the 988 line. Ms. Lakomiak said that they spent $4,781 for posters, stress balls, totes, and wristbands as schools have requested these.
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Attorney General Office (AGO) Opioid Remediation Grant Award of $149,088 was awarded to the GC Sheriff’s Office. . The Sheriff had approached GC-MHRS to collaborate and coordinate Substance Abuse services for inmates. Some of the services this grant will fund include: Medication-assisted treatment and a position for a jail services coordinator. This is a new position to meet the needs of inmates with mental health and substance abuse diagnoses. The position will be filled soon. Director Lakomiak was invited by the Sheriff’s Department to be part of the interview process.
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Health Officers (staff with a variety of positions such as EMTs, Mental Health Workers, other First Responders) continued to be trained. Reviewer Note: See more information about this process here. Recently 41 completed the training. Once trained they attain the designation Health Officer and are able to issue a pink slip and have an individual in crisis be seen for evaluation. This increases the capacity of the community to respond to a crisis in a timely manner.
Local updates
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A Mutual Aid Agreement with Geauga Public Health (GPH) was entered into. In the event that GPH has to set up county-wide pods to deal with an emergency, behavioral health will now be part of that effort. With the Memo of Understanding (MOU) in place, GC-MHRS will now be able to respond.
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Changes were made to ORC 340 which established new rules about service contracts. One change is to the requirement that the Boards give a 120 day notice if they are considering not refunding an agency. This has now been modified to 60 days. It has been hard to meet the 120 day requirement in some circumstances. Boards often do not have their budgets in time to provide 120 day notice. March 2026 will be the last time the 120 day notice wording will be in the service contracts (for SFY 27 contracts). Moving forward, both Boards and Providers will have 60 days to inform the other party of potential non-renewal. Other changes to ORC 340 allow for different ways to enter into a service contract. Alternatives to a full Request for Proposals (RFP) such as a simpler Request for Information (RFI) or another renewal process will now be allowed. GC-MHRS board will be looking into these options. The Association of Mental Health Boards has some new language for service contracts. It is currently being reviewed and may be part of next year’s service contracts.
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Mid-year agency reviews are completed. Outcome measures are due in February and will be presented at the March Board meeting.
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NO suicides or deaths in December. Unfortunately there was a suicide this week.
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At their Regular Meeting, Geauga Township highlighted mental health and several service providers for the first time.
Board Review Action Items
Resolution 26O-01-1 ADDITIONAL ALLOCATION FOR SFY2026 RESIDENTIAL
The Board passed Resolution 25-05-1 "System of Care Funding Allocations for SFY26", which allocated $20,000.00 for Residential Services. As of December 31, 2025, costs associated with Residential Services are expected to exceed $20,000 by approximately $25,000.00. Therefore, the GC-MHRS Board allocates $25,000.00 from the Board's unencumbered reserve for additional funding for Residential Services for SFY26. The Board CEO/Executive Director is authorized to disburse funds.
Discussion: One individual has been in a residential facility outside the county. The facility asked for a 30-day extension. Mr. Petruziello asked if this will cover all of the individual's expenses for his care and if he will be well enough to be discharged in 30 days. Director Lakomiak responded that 30 additional days are what the facility is asking for.
Roll call vote: Ayes: unanimous
Resolution 26-01-2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTY BUDGET FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2026
The GC-MHRS Board has received the Geauga County Commissioners approved County Permanent Appropriations Budget for Calendar Year 2026. The Board may adjust County budget line items with unappropriated funds in order to meet State Fiscal Year obligations and/or capital projects. The GC-MHRS Board acknowledges receipt of the Board's County Calendar Year 2026 Budget Appropriations in the amount of $7,232,575.00. The Executive Director of the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services is authorized to expend funds and enter into contracts in accordance with this resolution.
Discussion. Mr. Holden asked why the amount asked for this year is less than last year. Mr. Mausser responded that last year included expenses for the new TLC as well as a cash transfer to the capital reserve fund which appears as an expense even though it was offset by income at a later time.
Roll call vote: Ayes: Unanimous
Resolution 26-01-3 RAVENWOOD HEALTH BUDGET SHORTFALL
Ravenwood Health applied to the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (ODBH) for FY26 SOS No Cost Extension 4.0 grant funding in the amount of $479,750.00 for Medications and Drug Screens, Employment, Geauga Youth Center, Training, and Recovery Housing. ODBH did not award any SOS No Cost Extension 4.0 funds to Ravenwood Health for these programs, creating a $479,750.00 budget shortfall. Ravenwood Health has made budgeting adjustments in the amount of $369,750.00 to make up some of the shortfall. Ravenwood Health is seeking Board assistance for the remaining shortfall in the amount of $110,000.00 for Medication-Assisted Treatment. The allocation of $110,000.00 is awarded to Ravenwood Health to supplement their budget for Medication-Assisted Treatment. The Executive Director is authorized to expend funds in accordance with this Resolution.
Discussion: Ms. Clark stated that this shortfall funding will cover expenses for Medication Assisted Treatment through June 2026. Ravenwood will look to go in a different direction (such as One Ohio) as it is likely these funds will not be offered by the State in the future. She explained “It doesn’t go to staff time. It is exactly what medications cost us.” Dr. Oluic asked if the price of the medications might decrease as a result of government addressing high medication costs, Ms. Clark responded “That would be wonderful. Some of these medications are very expensive, especially the injectables. I think they are very effective and we need them, but the cost is high.”
Roll call vote: Ayes: Unanimous
Financial Reports -
Mr. Mausser reported the December totals as follows:
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The Board SFY2026 (7/1/25-6/30/26) office budget is through December and they have expended 47.2% of the budget.
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The County calendar year (1/1/25-12/31/25) Budget Performance Report shows expenditures of just over $8.84 million through December.
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The Auditor's Fund Balance: the December Unencumbered Balance is just over $2.44 million.
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Voucher recap #713 November $549,155.27 and #714 December $857,369.31.
Discussion: December was higher due to some payments to Millstone for the TLC construction invoices.
Property Tax: Dr. Oluic asked what is known about county funding and property taxes. Mr. Mausser replied that the county has a substantial surplus. The Job and Family Services (JFS) levy was pulled. These services will be funded with inside millage. The county has a large carryover. Reviewer Note: The Geauga County Commissioners ended the year with a $16 Million cash carryover in the General Fund. They voted to rescind one of the JFS levies which will result in $1.7 Million being returned to taxpayers. The funds necessary for the work that would have been funded by this levy will be taken from the county General Fund. See the LWVG Observer Report for December 16, 2025 County Commissioners Meeting for more information.
Old Business -
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Digital Sign - Permit and drawings are complete. The sign is going into production. The area has been cleared. It should be installed in 4-12 weeks to allow for manufacturing and weather delays beyond the vendors’ control.
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The 988 signs are continuing to go up in Chardon and other township parks. The staff have had many speaking engagements with townships and park staff around the use of these signs. Someone suggested cemeteries as another potential place to post signs. Director Lakomiak will explore this further. Mr. Lundblad noted that townships have indicated to him that they are willing to add links to Services for Veterans and GC-MHRS services on their websites. Suggested that MHRS Board staff follow up with that lead.
New Business -
Key Strategies: Promotion of the 988 crisis line in schools, strengthen Medication-assisted Treatment, suicide prevention, mental health treatment, publicize Ravenwood’s walk-in drug assessment, strengthen jail-based services, mobile crisis, continue collaborations. Plans are in place to monitor outcomes and compliance for all these services. These plans include but are not limited to both qualitative and quantitative data collected on an ongoing basis.
This Community Assessment and Plan will continue to keep GC-MHRS in compliance with the ODBH requirements.
Dr. Oluic commented that there have been “so many” incremental changes over the past several years and the improvements are reflected here. Dr. Oluic said he would be signing the Community Assessment and Plan after the meeting.
All in favor of Dr. Oluic signing the Community Assessment and Plan (voice vote):
Ayes: Unanimous
Public Comments: Public comments were solicited.
Vicki Clark, who is retiring from her position as CEO of Ravenwood Health on February 2, 2026 rose to say a few words upon her departure. Ms. Clark shared that she felt at home immediately when she began her career some 40 years ago at Ravenwood Health. Ms. Clark credited the partner agencies, the colleagues and the community who all care and work together. Ms. Clark gave particular heartfelt thanks to each staff member, complementing and thanking each for their special gifts. Ms.Clark thanked the Board for their volunteerism, the hours spent and how they “always come back to the mission.” She shared her feeling that the Geauga County Mental Health system as a whole is on a beautiful trajectory. Ms. Clark said she has always felt supported.
Dr. Oluic said she will be missed.
A motion was made to move into Executive Session to consider the compensation of a public employee or official pursuant to (ORC 121.22 (G)(1) The Board went into executive session at about 7 pm.
Observer Note: There was no indication that there would be action following the Executive Session. This observer and others in the public left at this point. It is not known when they reconvened from Executive Session to adjourn the meeting.
Board Minutes: Available at https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/
Next meeting: The next meeting will be the Regular Meeting on March 18, 2026 at 6:00 pm. Meetings are held at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024.
More Information: https://www.geauga.org/
Observer: Kathy Franz
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Rooney Moy
Date Submitted: February 10, 2026
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