Mental health is in the forefront of conversation right now. It has always been a point of concern, but as people face challenging times and stressful situations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more important that help be available for those who need it.
Wright County, in partnership with County Social Services (CSS), which is a regional program, stepped up to the plate immediately offering access to help through the use of Telehealth (video and/or telephone). They’ve been accelerating entry to these services by collaborating with the Family and Community Resource Center (alcohol and addiction treatment) and Berryhill Community Mental Health Center, both in Fort Dodge, allowing patients access to help at a triage center so they can receive intervention as needed.
“Our goal is to divert as many people from the hospital and instead get them directly to a help facility,” said Bob Lincoln, chief executive officer of CSS, an organization that serves tax payers and people with disabilities. “We’ve also waived co-payments and deductibles through the end of June. We’re trying our best to reduce any barriers patients may have to receiving the help they need.”
Jen Sheehan, disability service coordinator in Wright County added, “One thing we can do that is nice and readily available (because of their involvement with the CSS program) is a partnership with providers that can give us transportation on a volunteer basis for people who need a way to get to therapy if there is a crisis…even during this COVID-19 event.”
What many people don’t realize is that the partnership between Wright County (through the Wright County Supervisors) and CSS was formed long before the COVID-19 outbreak. It actually began on January 1, 2009. Five counties came together to further advance the vision of creating a more equitable service system, while at the same time, maintaining local control in an effort to make funding and services more readily available. It was one of the initial regional programs in the state (instead of functioning as individual county by county services).
“When we went to the quadrant approach, some counties in the organization had questions, but Wright County Board of Supervisors saw it as a great way to streamline the resources and have dedicated personnel to specialize in each one of them,” said Wright County Supervisor Karl Helgevold, who also serves as part of the CSS board. “Out of the original five counties, Wright County was the sixth county to join the region.”
Since that time, CSS has grown to include 21 counties – Allamakee, Black Hawk, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Clayton, Chickasaw, Emmet, Fayette, Floyd, Grundy, Hancock, Howard, Humboldt, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Tama, Webster, Winnebago, Worth, Winneshiek, and Wright. Our county was ahead of the times as it wasn’t until 2013 that the State took on a mental health and disability redesign and mandated that regions be formed.
“What’s great about being part of this regional program is that it allows us to pool our mental health dollars, which allows us to expand out money to the area instead of simply relying on just the money our county has…it opens up so many more avenues for the people that need assistance,” said Helgevold.
“You get more for the rural counties so it’s easier to bill services. If we handled just Wright County, we would have just under $1 million for funding. That’s not much in the grand scheme of things,” said Sheehan. But since Wright County has access to regional dollars, there is now the ability to access services that are available more easily in places like Fort Dodge or Waterloo. Likewise, our local dollars are going towards those same services for other people in other counties as well, but at the same time, Wright County would not have access, or enough money, to provide all those services otherwise.”
Lincoln noted that in addition to money, being part of the regional program means there are more people to help do the work, specifically being able to specialize in what it is they do best or have the most resources for.
“Before Wright County joined the region, Jen would have been the beginning and the end person for these people,” he said. “(As part of the CSS) she now works with a team that serves all the counties allowing them to bring their unique strengths and expertise and provide the best to all the patients.”
“When we went to the quadrant approach, it was brand new and it was hard for the Board of Supervisors to wrap their heads around, as well as for some employees,” said Sheehan. “ Even though we had been a region for some years, we were still really operating as a local county. We were regional, but we weren’t really working together as regions… quadrants made us look at being more specialized and focus on that instead of covering all areas. For example, support staff can help process claims for other counties instead of all counties doing their own.”
As a result, Sheehan said she can now cover justice involved services for multiple counties while others more well-versed in housing help can do that for our county.
“The nice thing about quadrants is that instead of one county trying to do everything (housing, jail, children, etc) we have the ability to utilize more staff giving us more time to utilize in special areas – like crisis intervention. Covering more area with same number of staff,” she added.
“The tax dollars have gone down since joining the region, but services have increased,” Helgevold pointed out about how being part of the quadrant benefits Wright County residents. “There is no way one county could provide all the different resources individually that our region does by pooling the dollars and working together.”
“I think you will see this is more…pulling in other counties to minimize cost and utilize talents. It’s the way of the future,” Helgevold stated enthusiastically. “Bob has been on this since day one. He’s got good vision and we’ve got a great group of people…you don’t realize how much you’ve done until you look back.”
Bob gave credit back to the Wright County Board of Supervisors for having foresight to do this before it was mandatory.
“It will help sustain continuity of care,” he said proudly.
If you are someone who is struggling with mental health, now or in the future, you are encouraged to call the 24-hour crisis hotline at 855-581-8111 or use a text line at 855-895-8398. There is also a 24/7 support line available to address basic needs for those who are struggling with rent, food, etc., by calling 855-266-1257. For additional information, visit countysocialservices.org.
Watch for Part 2 of this story in next week’s Monitor as we take a look at what the future holds for Wright County and CSS
