Grand Traverse County board moves to dissolve agreement with Northern Lakes Community Mental Health
The Record-EagleMay 04, 2022
May 5—TRAVERSE CITY —
The county board voted 6 to 1 Wednesday to give its notice of intent to dissolve an enabling agreement with Northern Lakes. The notice will be sent to the appropriate local and state agencies and the other counties in the six-county CMH. The county will maintain and expand mental health services through alternate means.
According to that agreement, when any county terminates the agreement, the entire authority will be dissolved on the effective date of termination, leaving the five other counties without services.
"We are in a dysfunctional relationship with our mental health authority," Morris said. "In that relationship we need to decide if we need a divorce attorney or a marriage counselor."
Morris said she has spoken to fellow CMH board members about the needs of
"We can't live in a relationship where our community needs are ignored," Morris said. "I think the cost is much greater if we do nothing."
The first step in the process is sending a letter of intent to the
During that year Northern Lakes will continue to deliver services, with county Administrator
"I was concerned to hear about the GTC decision to remove itself from the the enabling agreement," said
Blamer said services to incarcerated people appear to be a driving factor in the GTC board's decision. When a person on Medicaid becomes incarcerated, their health insurance is stopped, which restricts services by Northern Lakes.
She said the agency is working hard to "turn the ship," but dissolution of the enabling agreement would be a huge step backward. She said they've secured federal appropriations for increased services and she's not sure what would happen to those funds.
Blamer said she hopes Northern Lakes and GTC can repair its relationship.
Wessell on Wednesday asked Janik to set up a meeting with GTC to discuss it, saying he's hopeful they can move forward while ensuring that services are not disrupted.
"It feels like a huge, heavy weight has been lifted off our shoulders," Dahlstrom said. "Many of us who've been advocating for better services, we're ready to sit down and plan for those."
Several community members and every commissioner spoke out against Northern Lakes on Wednesday.
"It's an agency that no longer serves our county," said
At its
Commissioners wanted the CMH board to look at Blamer's actions before offering her the job of CEO. The board ignored the request, said board Chairman
Commissioner
"I feel like we need to start the discussion about this as a possibility, but not this particular motion to start the 365-day clock," Hundley said.
The county will hire an attorney to compose the letter, which will come back to the board for approval before it is sent out. Alger said a law firm with expertise in the area has been recommended.
Commissioner
"I want to remind everybody that people are dying, families are being destroyed and our community is suffering," Nelson said, adding that Northern Lakes has been put on notice and the action should not be a surprise to anyone.
A separate motion approved unanimously instructs Alger to seek public input to create a baseline of mental health services, as well as to hire a consultant to lead the county through the process of forming its own mental health agency.
Other counties have done this, namely
"Basically (they have) everything that we have been dreaming about," Shea told commissioners. "I had the opportunity to go down to tour that and it was phenomenal."
Law enforcement agencies have a stake in mental health services as
Several commissioners were concerned with the change being a heavy lift for Alger, but he assured them he is capable of taking it on.
"This is not just a jail services problem," Alger said. "I have significant experience with CMH. Through that process they have failed us for decades, in my opinion. This is a bigger problem ... It's a refusal on CMH's leadership's part to even acknowledge that
In other actions the board reappointed
Lentych replaces
The ad hoc committee interviewed 11 candidates for the two posts.
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