Commissioners weigh phased restoration of Community Mental Health funding after cuts

Controller Ben Dawson told commissioners that Community Mental Health (CH) submitted materials asking the county to restore funding toward prior levels. Dawson summarized three items CH proposed for integration into the budget forecast, including modest contractual increases for jail and youth‑facility mental‑health services and a larger restoration of county contribution that would return Eaton County toward the CH allocation formula used by peer communities.

Dawson said the county reduced its CH contribution to a minimum allocation of $330,000 last year. CH’s requested level would move Eaton County back toward a $582,151 contribution that aligns with its percentage of the regional formula; Dawson said he would not administratively recommend restoring the full amount in one step but that commissioners could consider phased options.

Service implications: staff and CH representatives explained that at the reduced funding level CH is prioritizing high‑risk and crisis care and that full restoration would allow mild‑to‑moderate outpatient counseling and broader community outreach. "We are not providing mild to moderate services" at the current funded level, a CH representative explained to commissioners, who asked whether smaller incremental increases—rather than a full restoration—could expand services for prevention and early intervention.

Why it matters: commissioners noted local suicide rates and community needs and asked administration and CH to return with phased proposals explaining what a partial increase (for example, $80,000) would restore operationally and how state matching or Medicaid changes would affect long‑term sustainability.

Next steps: staff said they can work with CH to model phased restoration options, quantify service gains at different funding levels, and report back at a future Ways and Means session.