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Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (GC-MHRS) - March 20, 2024

Meeting Details: GC-MHRS Board held its regular monthly meeting on March 20, 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 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 Steve Oluic, Vice Chair Alberta Chokshi, Treasurer Michael Petruziello, and Board Members Ann Bagley, Reba Dykes, Kathy Johnson, Douglas Lundblad, Patricia Varanese, Marty Fay and Mary Ruth Shumway.

Board Members Absent:  Carolee Lesyk, Greg O’Brien, and Jimmy Lee Holden.  

Staff Members Attending: Executive Director Christine Lakomiak, Finance Director Jim Mausser, and Secretary Teresa Slater. 

Service Providers: Angi Daugherty, Family Pride; Tia Lawrence, Torchlight; Vicki Clark, Ravenwood Health; Michelle Bertman, Catholic Charities; Melanie Blasko, Lake Geauga Recovery Center; Mary Wynne-Peaspanen, Signature Health; Kristine Frankenberry, NAMI Geauga; Andrea Gutsko, Women Safe, and possibly other providers who didn’t sign on the sign-in sheet provided.

Guests: Katherine Franz (this LWVG Observer), Mr. N.D. Howard, and possibly others who did not sign in. 

Call to Order, Roll Call, and Pledge of Allegiance occurred as listed on the agenda. The meeting was called to order at 6:01pm.

Minutes from the February 21, 2024, meeting were approved. Minutes are posted on the Board’s webpage here. 

Chairman’s Report: 

Dr. Oluic said a lot has happened this past month.  Appreciation was expressed for Director Lakomiak’s  husband fixing all the chairs. After commenting that things are moving along well, Dr. Oliuc turned the meeting over to Director Lakomiak to provide details. 

Executive Director’s Report:

• Director Lakomiak announced that the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) conference will be June 3-4, 2024.  This is the 13th annual conference with over 60 sessions offered. There is a broader focus this year, covering both MH and Addiction. They expect 1,200 participants and spaces will fill quickly.

• FAQ non-medical cannabis update was published in February 2024 by OhioMHAS.

• OneOhio Recovery Foundation grant applications are due May 3, 2024. Geauga is in region 13, along with Lake, Ashtabula and Portage.  A Request for Proposal (RFP) was developed. Applicants will apply directly through a portal. This is a different  process from what had been worked on during the year. 

• A March 26, 2024, meeting is scheduled with OhioMHAS Chief Advisor Tina Moretti regarding new prevention rules and the FY2025 budget.

• Crisis Center Update: Geauga is working with Lake and Ashtabula to develop a Crisis Center. It will accommodate stays up to 10 days with the purpose being to avoid hospitalization. A Project Coordinator has been hired. This is in the early stages. There are monthly workgroups, goals to  assist clients to Connect, Respond, Stabilize, and Thrive.  There has been support from State Senator Jerry Cirino and Congressman David Joyce’s aide.  They are making progress, and looking for land for the crisis center. Portage is not part of this, as they already have a Crisis Center.  

• Journey to Hope. This event was offered by the Loss Team Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation on January 27, 2024.  It was well attended and dealt with the misconceptions of grief and other topics particular to suicide. There were tables from more than 10 agencies. 

• Suicide Prevention Coalition of Geauga County met.  Michelle Maneage, Clinical and  Compliance Manager, attended. Lake Geauga Recovery was also represented. There is a workgroup focusing on Mission messaging, branding, increased visibility, Advocacy, Membership Recruitment and Engagement.

• Sequential Intercept Mapping. The Stepping Up program is a national initiative aimed at reducing the number of people with mental illness in jail. In Ohio, former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton has led this effort to improve coordination with the criminal justice system. Geauga County is one of the program sites.  There will be a workshop on May 2, 2024, to work on Sequential Intercept Mapping for Geauga County, which is designed to promote meaningful cross-system collaboration and to establish effective and efficient services for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system. Geauga County MHRS Board submitted data regarding mental illness and criminal justice in Geauga to the Stepping Up program  in order to be able to hold the workshop. This is for the adult system.  The process could be done for juveniles, but it would involve different providers and different systems.  The Stepping Up program in Geauga was launched last May.  Judges participated at that time and it is anticipated that they will continue with their commitment.

• As part of Stepping Up, the GC-MHRS Board gathered data to promote outpatient services. Two grants were submitted this month. Both would help landlords willing to house mental health clients including Landlord Mitigation of $25,000 for insurance for landlords offering leases to Stepping Up tenants, plus a Landlord Incentive program of $20,000. This would provide support to landlords if there is damage from a tenant and provide other enticements to house clients.  Mr. Fay asked “who vets the landlords?” OhioMHAS would be vetting them, with the goal to support existing landlords and identify new ones. 

• Crisis Intervention Training is this week with many of the agencies here today presenting. This is a 40-hour training for first responders, and the Board is invited to attend graduation. Director Lakomiak will attend and others are welcome. 

• RFPs (requests for proposals) and Grant Applications are due March 29th for agencies wishing to provide services funded by GC-MHRSB. The fiscal  and clinical agency meetings with the Board are complete. SFY 2023 audits of the Geauga provider agencies are complete as well. Many had no findings.  Of the few findings, most were journal entry errors, and all have been corrected.

• Director Lakomiak and Mr. Mausser met with the Geauga Budget Commission this week for the Calendar Year 2025 budget review.  The GC-MHRS Budget was approved. 

• Director Lakomiak met with the Educational  Service Center of Northeast Ohio.  It was very helpful as she learned more about what they offer.

• Transitional Living Center (TLC) is moving forward. Director Lakomiak stated that this is a very exciting time. Director Lakomiak deferred to Ms. Dykes to provide details in the Capital Planning/Housing Committee report later in the agenda. 

• Director Lakomiak announced that her one-year anniversary with the Board was last week and she thanked all for their support. The Board in turn thanked her for her service.

Committee Reports

• Agency Relations Committee: Board member Ms. Johnson stated that there was no report. 

• Finance Committee: Mr. Petruziello had no report. The next meeting will be April 3, 2024.

• Planning and Policies Committee: Ms. Chokshi said they did not meet March 12 as there was no quorum. However, they did complete work for the Director’s evaluation. It was sent to Dr. Oluic and will be used for the Director’s evaluation.  The next meeting is in May. 

• Capital Planning/Housing Committee: 

  • Ms. Dykes reported that the TLC expansion group met on Feb 28, 2024, and on March 13, 2024.  At the March 13th meeting, the architect brought a promising design.  The architects have been very responsive. The plan will address expanding living space, kitchen and other improvements.  They are meeting every two weeks with the next meeting being next week.  Improved storage, a family meeting room and possibly moving the mechanical to a potential new basement are all ideas being considered. Board members are engaged, as are staff from Ravenwood Health.

  • Also Ms. Dykes recently attended a Geauga Housing Coalition Meeting. 

• Opiate HUB Committee: Ms. Lakomiak stated the next meeting is April 4, 2024. See New Business below for further discussion of the Opiate HUB.

Board Review and Action Items

• Resolution 24-03-1 Reimbursement to Geauga Safety Center

Am.Sub.H.B. No 49 established the psychotropic drug reimbursement program to provide reimbursement for the cost of psychotropic drugs that are dispensed to inmates of county jails in Ohio. This statutory provision requires that the program be administered by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). The Geauga County Sheriff's Office submitted an itemized reimbursement request including the number of prescriptions for each allowable drug and the cost for the 1st half of SFY2024 (7/1/23-12/31/23) to OhioMHAS. The Geauga County Safety Center will receive reimbursement based on its percentage of the total amount of reimbursement requested from all jails. OhioMHAS has notified the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services (Board) that the Geauga County Safety Center shall be reimbursed the amount of $22,646.00.
  

Therefore, be it resolved that:

The GC-MHRS Board shall distribute to the Geauga County Safety Center $22,646.00 for payment of their reimbursement request for psychotropic medications administered to inmates for the 1st half of SFY2024.

Vote: Yea: Unanimous

• Resolution 24-03-1 Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Capital Grant Award

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) issued a Request for Proposals for one-time capital funding to be used for short-term mental health facilities in the Northeast Ohio Regional Psychiatric Hospital catchment region. The GC-MHRS Board submitted a proposal to expand the TLC located at 12741 Ravenwood Dr. Chardon, Ohio 44024 to up to a 16 bed facility. OhioMHAS has awarded GC-MHRS Board $1,134,000.00 for this project and has sent the Board a notice of award, contract, mortgage and note for signature. GC-MHRS Board supports this and the Director and Board Chair are authorized to sign these documents.

Discussion: There was some discussion of the use of the word “ mortgage” in this resolution. Director Lakomiak and Mr. Mausser clarified that the wording is from OhioMHAS and cannot be changed.  Funding is for up to 10 years and must be used for a 16 bed facility. It cannot be used  for another purpose. Mr. Mausser suggested documents regarding the TLC could be attached, but the wording of the resolution cannot be changed.  Mr. Mausser clarified that in Geauga the TLC won’t involve a “mortgage,” but, in other counties using this funding, it could involve a mortgage. 

Vote:   Yea. Unanimous

Financial Reports

• Mr. Mausser reported in the board packet that 60.9% of the office budget has been expended.  This budget is for the State Fiscal Year 2024 (7/1/23 - 6/30/24).

• Mr. Mauser stated that under the County calendar year 2024 (1/1/24-12/31/24), the Board has expended just over $1.38 million through February.  

• The Auditor’s Fund Balance is just over $2.24 million.

• Voucher recap #692 for February was $385,932.49. 

• In summary, Mr. Mausser stated that the GC-MHRS budget  is on track. Mr. Mausser is beginning to work on 10-year forecasting with TLC included.

Old Business - None

New Business

• Ms. Bagley asked if, due to Linda Miller’s GD-MHRS Board term expiring, there needs to be a new Chairperson of the Opiate HUB? She asked if the chair was supposed to come from the GC-MHRS Board, and who should make that decision? Consensus was that a board member should be the Opiate HUB chair. After discussion, it was decided that interested board members should send an email to Dr. Oluic by this Sunday. 

• Dr. Oluic stated that there was a suicide in Geauga County two weeks ago, noting that it is a tragedy and is real.  Discussion followed about data collection regarding suicide in Geauga County.  Director Lakomiak said the Suicide Prevention Coalition looks at that data each month. Last year there were 11 suicides in Geauga County who were all males, from 20 years old to late in life. 
  

Public Comments

A provider commented that the board is doing great. It was noted that the functioning is much improved. Others concurred. 

Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at 6:50pm. 

Board Minutes: Available at https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/

Next meeting:  The next meeting will be on April 17, 2024, at 6:00 pm. 

More Information: https://www.geauga.org/

Observer: Kathy Franz

Editor: Anne Ondrey

Reviewer: Sarah McGlone

Date Submitted: 3/21/24

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