Community Services Coordinating Body outlines 42‑year record and requests clearer public understanding

Deb Johnson, CEO of St. Clair County Community Mental Health and chair of the Community Services Coordinating Body, told the Board of Commissioners on April 2 that the group — known as the CSCB — began in 1984 as a state pilot and has since helped coordinate services across the county.

Johnson said the CSCB’s work focuses on identifying gaps and pooling expertise among voluntary members. "When communities collaborate effectively, we believe everybody wins," she said, summarizing 42 years of work that has included needs assessments, a homelessness plan, car‑seat programs, suicide‑prevention initiatives and community resource fairs.

Why it matters: Johnson said the CSCB has supported agencies that won significant outside funding by providing letters of support and shared data, while operating on a modest budget. "We have 74 members currently," she said, and the CSCB’s operating budget is approximately $72,400. She emphasized that those dues are held in a separate CSCB account managed by Community Mental Health (CMH) as the fiduciary, and that the body itself is voluntary and primarily provides endorsements rather than direct grant allocations.

The body’s strategic priorities are economic self‑sufficiency, education and health and wellness, Johnson said, and she described how work groups focus on topics such as adolescent services, substance‑use prevention and disaster recovery planning. She pointed commissioners to materials in the packet and to cscbinfo.org for further detail.

Commissioners questioned governance and oversight. Commissioners asked whether the CSCB has any statutory authority; Johnson replied that the original state statutory mandate was repealed and that the CSCB has continued as a voluntary community collaborative. On potential conflicts of interest, she said the CSCB endorses, rather than awards, outside funding and that CMH handles funds in a separately tracked account and includes CSCB in its annual audit.

Next steps: Johnson invited commissioners to attend CSCB meetings and said the steering committee and full body meet on staggered schedules. She offered follow‑up briefings for interested commissioners and noted that CSCB membership applications will be processed by the steering committee and the full body for endorsement.