Mahoning County officials and the state director of mental health told the Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 4 they are pursuing a small locked psychiatric hospital and expanded crisis services in the county and presented a proclamation recognizing Suicide Prevention Day.

The discussion, led by Leanne Cornyn, Ohio’s state director of mental health, and Dwayne Pittsroman, director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board, centered on local shortages of inpatient and crisis care and state funding streams intended for crisis stabilization.

Cornyn said the state has increased mental-health investments since Gov. Mike DeWine took office and noted that the 2023 state legislature allocated $90,000,000 for crisis stabilization services statewide. "We have invested billions of dollars into building that system that was promised so many years ago," she said, urging local coordination and advocacy.

The message underscored local efforts. "We're working really hard to have a locked facility in Mahoning County," said Dwayne Pittsroman, who described talks with developers and county leaders to identify a site and add a small psychiatric hospital and related services. "We know we need it, and we're working on it. It's a priority." He said his board is distributing gun locks and working with local partners to reduce suicides.

Commissioners and other county officials credited local providers and county staff for recent prevention work. Pittsroman reported that between January and August of the current year Mahoning County recorded 26 suicides compared with 41 during the same period the prior year, and he said three recent fatalities were veterans and three were children. "It's wonderful we cut it in half, but we got a long ways to go," Pittsroman said.

The board presented a proclamation recognizing suicide-awareness efforts and thanked the Mental Health and Recovery Board and partner agencies for prevention work and outreach. Commissioners and county staff emphasized the need to secure funding and the regulatory approvals required to open a facility. Officials described the effort as ongoing coordination rather than a completed policy action.

County leaders asked state and regional partners for technical and funding assistance to site and operate a locked psychiatric unit locally, and Pittsroman said the county would continue working with the developer, the county commission and state agencies to advance the project. Cornyn said statewide programs, including walk-in behavioral health urgent-care clinics, are part of a broader strategy but that local inpatient capacity remains a gap for Mahoning County.

The board did not adopt new binding policy at the meeting; commissioners said they would keep pursuing funding and approvals and continue collaboration with state partners and local providers. The board next meets Sept. 11 at 9 a.m.