Horizons Mental Health reports rising Reno County caseload; mobile crisis team resolves most incidents in community

Vicky Mader, CEO of Horizons Mental Health Center, told the Reno County Commission on July 22 that the agency served 4,237 unique Reno County clients in the most recent quarter and is seeing steady growth in service volume.

“We continue to see a trend upward, of serving more individuals and providing more services,” Mader said, adding that the mobile crisis team responded to 141 incidents in the last three months and that 72 percent of those were “resolved in the community,” with only one case that resulted in jail. She described the mobile crisis response as available 24/7 and credited school-based outreach for helping reach people earlier.

Mader also reviewed financial information included in the commission packet. She said Horizons reported a positive EBITDA for the month but remained about $300,000 negative year to date through May; she added that staff efforts have improved billing and service delivery. The presentation included plans to expand Mental Health First Aid training to freshmen at USD 308 and to continue community outreach at local schools.

Under the county contract, Horizons asked the commission to submit nominations to fill a Reno County seat on the agency’s board; Mader said multiple board openings exist and named a current co-director, Karen, as an interested candidate. Commissioners discussed the nomination timeline and indicated they would forward recommendations at a subsequent meeting.

The commission did not take formal action on the board nominations at the July 22 meeting. The public comment period that followed included a brief announcement about the Reno County Fair.