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Concerns raised after ADAMHS recommends new mental health crisis service providers

The Montgomery County crisis receiving center was operated by R.I. International, but now the company is cutting ties with ADAMHS and not offering an explanation.
The Montgomery County crisis receiving center was operated by R.I. International, but now the company is cutting ties with ADAMHS and not offering an explanation.

A committee wasn't able to recommend new contractors to provide crisis mental health services in Montgomery County, after weighing options to keep services going past Wednesday.

For over two years, Montgomery County has been scaling up a crisis mental health care system that now offers three tiers of care: a hotline, a mobile crisis unit, and a crisis center to provide up to 23 hours of stabilizing care.

RI International has been contracted by operating these services, but the nonprofit unexpectedly announced it would stop operating in the county after Wednesday.

Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) staff said they have identified new contractors to replace RI International: Netcare and DeCoach Recovery Centre.

In a meeting on May 20, members of the ADAMHS Program and Services Policy Committee raised concerns about the contractors recommended by ADAMHS staff. This includes the capacity of the recommended service providers to meet the county's needs.

Jill Bucaro, one of the committee members, said more community input is needed.

“People who have lived experience and their families need to tell us what is needed and what is missing,” Bucaro said. “Just approving these motions right away isn't going to allow us to do that and to engage in that conversation.”

Montgomery County ADAMHS announced today, the morning after the committee meeting, that the staff will host two public meetings to discuss provider options for the provision of crisis services.

  • Today (May 21) from 3:30 - 5 p.m., 409 E. Monument Ave, Dayton, 45402
  • Wednesday (May 22) from 9:30 – 11 a.m., 409 E. Monument Ave, Dayton, 45402

The ADAMHS board meets Wednesday, May 22. The committee couldn’t pass a motion to recommend the new contractors to the ADAMHS Board.

If the board does not approve the contracts, no Montgomery County crisis mental health services will be available after Wednesday.

ADAMHS staff recommended Columbus-based nonprofit Netcare to run the local crisis call center. They recommended DeCoach Recovery Centre, which has a Dayton campus, to provide crisis mobile response.

Funding for both agencies would be from a combination of funding from Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services, local property taxes, and federal grants. Netcare is to receive $515,000 and DeCoach is to get $440,000.

The proposed contracts for both agencies are until the end of December, when ADAMHS says they will put out requests for proposals seeking long term providers.

Under the proposed agreement by ADAMHS staff, Netcare would continue the current schedule by answering the Crisis Call Center from 8 am to midnight, seven days per week. From midnight to 8 a.m., calls will be answered by the national mental health hotline, 988.

Ngozi Cole graduated with honors from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York and is a 2022 Pulitzer Center Post-Graduate Reporting Fellow. Ngozi is from Freetown, Sierra Leone.