Mental Health & Justice Collaborative - Union County, OH

This application is submitted by the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Union County (MHRBUC), a county-based governmental behavioral health planning authority, on behalf of the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the Union County Probate Court, and Maryhaven, a local behavioral health services provider. The MHRBUC was previously funded as a 2017 Category 1 recipient (Award No: 2017-MO-BX-0022) and a 2019 Category 3 recipient (Award No: 2019-MO-BX-0041) and is applying for the BJA FY22 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.  

Union County is a largely rural county located within central Ohio and has a current population of 62,606.  Marysville is the county seat with a population of 26,000. The majority of all behavioral health services are located within the city limits. Outlying communities are isolated, leaving many residents with limited access to resources. Union County is one of only 18 counties in Ohio with no public transportation. The Union County Community Health Assessment indicated that 1 in 10 individuals reported they lacked reliable transportation. Transportation and affordable housing are the two most common social determinants of health among residents.

This proposed project addresses the priority areas of promoting effective strategies by law enforcement to identify and reduce the risk of harm to individuals with mental illness and using effective strategies to expand the use of mental health courts.

The application includes strong cross-system collaboration among the local court system, law enforcement agencies, county commissioners, behavioral health provider, peer recovery support agencies, and an evaluation provider.

The proposed project plans to serve 180 – 200 individuals engaged with CIT annually. Of those, 35 individuals who have had a psychiatric hospitalization will receive a follow-up and service coordination from the CIT Coordinator and Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist. Additionally, 10 - 15 multi-system adults with several CIT responses will engage in intensive care coordination through an Adult Wraparound Program. Finally, those individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, who have been engaged in multiple CIT responses, hospitalizations and care coordination services, and have continued to be re-hospitalized, will be considered for Assisted Outpatient Treatment with the court system.

Proposed funds will be used for a CIT Coordinator, expansion of a CIT cloud-based data system, funding of an Assisted Outpatient Monitor, and a Project Coordinator.

The proposal requests $549,972.74 federal funding with $146,656.02 in local funds.