CEO of the Rolling Hills Community Services Region for mental health, Dawn Mentzer, provided an update to the Carroll Board of Supervisors, saying there are two main things to be discussed. These include legislation changes that passed in late May and an update on the development of an access center in Sioux City.
The access center will include five subacute beds for those between in-patient care and residential living. They are also creating a residential services home.
Mentzer says this will be a fiscal nightmare because they can put a budget together, but if DHS determines they are not in compliance, they can approve, deny or modify it. There is really no guarantee on how the system will be funded. She believes she may be one of the only CEOs in the state who thinks this plan is a bit dicey. Another factor is a 40 percent fund balance requirement.
She also wants each county to be thinking about their balances.
The consensus among those at the meeting is that this represents a loss of local control.
There were also discussions on how payments for those counties who have employees working with Rolling Hills will be paid and the cost of operating access centers. They are working with the Yes Center in Cherokee for transportation to the access center in Sioux City, particularly with their far eastern counties of Calhoun, Humboldt and Pocahontas. Other counties included in the Rolling Hills Community Services Region are: Carroll, Crawford, Sac, Buena Vista, Cherokee, Ida and Woodbury. Audio of the full discussion can be found below.
Click on arrow to play full audio from Rolling Hills Community Service Region discussion:
