ADAMhs Board biting bullet since state cut 37 percent of funding

Crucial services maintained despite deep cuts in funding

By DAVID J. COEHRS

Expositor Features Editor

The Four County ADAMhs Board has been biting the bullet since the state sliced $1.67 million from its fiscal year 2010 budget.

And although the board has tried adjusting to the damage, CEO Les McCaslin warned that any additional cuts will be devastating.

"Our numbers are going up. We're seeing more people with less money," he said. "There's no question that the result of the state cuts has impacted the people who need the service the most."

The ADAMhs Board was notified July 27, 2009, that the exclusion of Line Item 505 from the latest state budget would cost it almost $1.2 million in general outpatient mental health services. However, with the addition of other state cuts the amount pared from the board's $4.5 million annual budget rose to $1.67 million.

The cuts went into effect five days later, and will hold until the end of the fiscal year July 1. They included $30,000 from services to schools and $83,000 from prevention services.

The cuts were part of the state's ongoing effort to survive the floundering economy by slashing billions of dollars in spending. Funding has been provided since passage of Ohio's Mental Health Act of 1988 to ensure community-based services.

Fortunately, a five-year, .7-mill replacement levy passed by voters in November 2008 will generate another $400,000 locally this month, McCaslin said.

Since the 36.8 percent cut in state funding, the Four County ADAMhs Board has reduced staff to three full-time employees. It was also forced to reduce evening and Saturday hours and increase the waiting time for services, in some cases up to eight weeks. Individual therapy sessions for clients have been reduced in favor of less costly group therapy.

But the board chose to retain the most important services, such as emergency hospitalization, medication and housing, McCaslin said.

"Those are so crucial to functioning individuals, we could not (reduce them). It would mean increased hospitalization," he said.

The board currently serves nine agencies and 5,000 residents, a five percent increase, throughout Fulton, Williams, Henry and Defiance counties.

"The question is, how long can somebody wait for services?" McCaslin asked. "It used to be, when you called you could get services sooner. But those days are waning. We're fortunate that we haven't had any serious problems related to this yet."

For now, all the board can do is vie for state grant money, he added.

Finances have stabilized for the moment, McCaslin said. But if another round of cuts is instituted for the next fiscal year it will prove devastating.

"The intent of the Mental Health Act can't be met with these health cuts," he warned.