McHenry Times

McHenry County Mental Health Board met May 3.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Board Members present: Mike Baber, Cathy Ferguson, Lynn Kasicki, Sam Melei, Connee Meschini, Dawn Pruchniak, Paula Yensen

Board Members absent: Sarah Wilson

Others present: Scott Block, Terry Braune, Jane Wacker, Pat Peterson and other interested parties

I. Welcome and Introductions Connee Meschini, Board President

Connee welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The Board members introduced themselves and mentioned their background work. She turned the meeting over to Scott Block for the opening remarks.

II. Opening Remarks and Presentation Scott Block, Executive Director

Scott welcomed everyone in attendance and thanked the Mental Health Board members for their time and dedication. His Power Point presentation included: the Mental Health Board mission, duties, role of services, and mental health statistics. FY17 Local Mental Health Funds, MHB Recent Accomplishments (including radio ads, Naloxone training, McHELP APP, QPR Suicide prevention, CARF Network Accreditation, and reduction of expenses were covered as were the 2018-2020 MHB 3 Year Plan 5 goals:

1. Strengthen the McHenry County Recovery Infrastructure

2. Improve Access to Care and Other Services

3. Increase Awareness of Existing Services

4. Promote Administrative Effectiveness and Efficiency

5. Provide Leadership and Advocacy

In conclusion, community voice includes public comment at our Mental Health Board meetings, local committees and taskforces and tonight’s town hall meeting. The Mental Health Board, Board of Directors looks forward to hearing your comments and suggestions as well as hearing of the needs and service gaps.

III. Discussion

Bob Tanner, GEFCC told the members of the Board that he felt they are a tremendous group and have evolved tremendously through openness, communication, transparency, collegiality, organization of meetings, creating collaboration, openness to new ideas, and of all the 708’s Greater Elgin works with, the McHenry County 708 is very different.

Sam Tenuto, Pioneer Center noted what he thought to be a positive change in availability of psychiatric services and asked for thoughts on this change. Scott believes that the psychiatric shortage issue is not unique to McHenry County. Stating that when looking at the number of psychiatrists throughout the country vs. those in need of services there is a great imbalance. Additionally, sixty percent of psychiatrists are 60 or older and only about 2% of residents are going into this form of healthcare practice. Locally the MHB has incentivized providers to offer direct psychiatry services, Telepsychiatry services, and has provided funding for a residency program through Horizons Behavioral Health as well as bringing in direct services through GEFCC and Aunt Martha’s. These are services did not exist in the County a few years ago. The Board has made a conscientious priority to target psychiatric services and access has improved over the previous years. Cathy added that the MHB’s Psychiatric Loan Reimbursement program has provided incentives for Adult and Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists making it more worthwhile for new psychiatrists to come out to McHenry County from larger cities.

Citizen, Crystal Lake – has an adult son with mental health issues that has no housing available in Crystal Lake. Connee noted housing for MI is difficult and suggested Thresholds services. Art Krzyzanowski noted that Thresholds housing is run by HUD and is not specifically for MI clients. Thresholds could provide services if the client is a County resident and that client reaches out to them. Thresholds could help to transition and offer supportive services but cannot guarantee housing. Art recommended the Housing Authority to find subsidized housing or an apartment. Scott suggested Service Navigators within the County and additionally to contact Denise Bowman for more information. He took the citizen’s contact information in order to provide further assistance.

Carlos Acosta, Woodstock - asked about workforce needs in the area of psychiatry. Scott noted that the need of the workforce is greater than available licensed individuals. The solution is unknown but there will be a demand for these workers. The State has made some progress but the County is not designated as a “healthcare shortage area” in order to receive student loan reimbursement programs, etc. This is a topic that will continue to be an issue for the County.

Sam Tenuto, Pioneer Center - asked about our MHB funding strategy with school districts; Connee noted MHB funded programs are open to all of McHenry County. Scott noted that tax levy laws keep the MHB out of school districts. Connee reminded all of the Intake Coordinator Meeting held at the Mental Health Board each month.

Shira Greenfield, Centegra - thanked the Board for support of AMITA PHP program. She noted a lot of providers reach out to schools in order to connect with them. She further observed that Centegra has seen a huge increase in patients without funding, or with lapsed coverage. Bob Tanner, GEFCC agreed that they too have seen this. Scott noted that the State had narrowed down the number of Medicaid providers. Art of Thresholds has also seen an increased number of unfunded individuals because they are falling off of the Medicaid rolls due to the State not processing quickly enough. Scott mentioned the IAMHP and has scheduled a meeting to find out what our Network can do locally to advocate for improvements in the processes. This issue has been brought up by several providers and the MHB will be developing a task group for discussion of this issue.

Carlos Acosta has worked for DCFS and noted that the challenge is that DHS database rolled out in October keeps crashing. Work that used to take an hour to process now takes 4 hours. About 175,000 people have been dropped from the rolls and it will take 3-4 times longer to re-determine their eligibility. DHS is being held to task by a subcommittee in Springfield and the challenge is getting the dropped people back on the rolls. Scott reiterated that the Mental Health system is not easy to navigate. Shira discussed this as a barrier to services. Scott noted that the real tool that our system has to combat these problems is in talking to our legislators. GEFCC and CHP both have Navigators are that are tasked with determining and identifying clients that are eligible for funding.

There being no further discussion, Connee Meschini adjourned the Town Hall Meeting at 7:02 p.m.

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