Mental health clinic eyed for Eau Claire County Courthouse

Oct. 05--Social services provided by Eau Claire County are undergoing changes to seek more Medicaid dollars to reduce their reliance on local property taxes.

One of the newest pushes in that direction is seen in county Administrator Kathryn Schauf's budget proposal, which includes adding positions in the Human Services Department to create its own small mental health clinic.

"The clinic is targeted to reduce high-cost alternative placements and wait times for children, inmates and those currently served by institutional care," Schauf's budget states. "Stabilization of costs in this program area is crucial to future success."

Costs for temporary placements in treatment foster homes, private clinics and hospitals currently end up going to the county -- paid by local property taxes -- in situations where insurance or Medicaid don't pay.

The county's plan to curb those costs is to hire four people and create a clinic of its own.

"We're going to be certified as an outpatient clinic," human services director Diane Cable said. "We would provide treatment internally."

Therapists would see people by appointment to address their mental health or substance abuse issues, she told members of the county's Finance and Budget Committee on Wednesday.

The county expects that having its own outpatient clinic will allow it to trim bills it gets from outside institutions while getting revenue directly from Medicaid and private insurance reimbursements.

Cable said the clinic is intended for those in need of services provided through the county and is not meant to compete with the private sector.

"We are not in competition with the community clinics," she said, noting those are needed to serve the area's population.

Staffing for the county's clinic would be a full-time manager and three therapists. Salary and benefits for those four positions combined would be $271,335. About 60 percent of those costs would be paid by Medicaid and insurance, with local taxes picking up the rest, according to the proposed budget.

The county's outpatient clinic will be in the Human Services Department's existing space, which will be renovated next year to accommodate the addition of new staff, in the county courthouse.

"This is not like a clinic down the street with a shingle out providing services," Cable said. "This is part of Human Services."

Staffing boost

The clinic is just part of increased staffing the 2018 proposed budget would provide to the Human Services Department.

While most other county departments are remaining at the status quo, Human Services is growing by about 42 employees.

Twenty of the positions are coming from the county's Children's Court Services, which is going from its own separate division to become part of the Human Services Department.

Seventeen of the new positions are tied to a broader transition the department is undergoing to provide more social services by county staff, instead of through contracts with outside providers, according to the proposed budget. Known as Comprehensive Community Services, the method of delivering services gets its funding from state Medicaid dollars.

"This transition allows us to obtain funding from sources other than property tax levy," Schauf's budget proposal states. "It is part of a long-term strategy to not only address the need in the community, but to do so in a fiscally sustainable way."

Changes proposed to how the department delivers its services were the results of months of meetings with Schauf.

"They've stepped forward with sound solutions," the county administrator said of Human Services Department staff during Wednesday's budget meeting.

Tax impact

The 2018 county budget's proposed property tax increase, which is subject to ongoing state-imposed limits, is projected to have a small impact on the average homeowner.

The owner of a $150,000 home in the county would see about a $2 increase on next year's property tax bill, based on Schauf's proposed budget. That hypothetical home would pay about $615 in property taxes toward county services next year.

The county was responsible for 17 percent of an Eau Claire homeowner's overall property tax bill this year, with other portions going toward public schools, city services, Chippewa Valley Technical College and a state forestry tax.

The county's Finance and Budget Committee has been reviewing Schauf's budget proposal during several meetings this week. That group is expected to wrap up its budget review Monday and have its recommendations complete by Oct. 17.

The full County Board will hold a public hearing on the budget Nov. 7, followed by deliberations and a vote Nov. 8.

Contact: 715-833-9204, [email protected], @ADowd_LT on Twitter

Attachments

* Eau Claire County budget.pdf -- text/html

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