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Morrison County seeks Sourcewell grant, details adult mental‑health caseload pressures
Summary
County commissioners approved a resolution to apply for Sourcewell community impact funding for a Region 5 children’s mental‑health initiative and heard a Health & Human Services briefing on adult mental‑health case management, including waiting lists and uncertain state reimbursement rates.
The Morrison County Board of Commissioners on May 6 approved a resolution to join neighboring counties in applying for Sourcewell community impact funds to support a Region 5 children’s mental‑health initiative and heard a report on adult mental‑health case management capacity and funding.
County Health and Human Services Director Nathan Bergstrom and Adult Services Supervisor Jeff Bowman told the board the Sourcewell award for this region totals $500,000 this year and that Morrison County will act as fiscal host for the five‑county application. Bowman said the application is due in late May and that the grant requires no local match.
The mental‑health briefing described several operational pressures: targeted case management (TCM) reimbursement rates change in June or July each year, the county has a waiting list for adult mental‑health case management, and state discussions about expanding the SPMI (serious and persistent mental illness) diagnostic criteria could increase demand for services. “We started having a waiting list because our caseloads were getting more than what our case managers were able to function with,” Bowman said, adding that individuals on the waiting list are not blocked from other county or grant‑funded services.
Bergstrom and Bowman described partnerships and programs the county uses to fill gaps: a Region 5 Adult Mental Health initiative, mobile crisis outreach, an embedded social worker who accompanies law enforcement on crisis responses, an IPS (individual placement and support) employment collaboration, and a regional transitional specialist who helps locate placements for people discharged from hospitals. Bowman also explained the civil‑commitment process the county uses for involuntary treatment and said commitments are designed to be short term with court oversight.
Commissioners pressed staff on funding risks if eligibility expands. “There could be potential implications on that,” Bowman said of the SPMI expansion, noting that more eligible diagnoses could mean more billable cases but also larger caseloads for county staff. Bergstrom and board members said they are watching the state legislative session that could conclude May 19 before committing to staffing or budget changes.
Action: the board unanimously approved the resolution to apply for Sourcewell community impact funding for the Region 5 children’s mental‑health initiative; the board will serve as fiscal host for the multi‑county request.
Why it matters: the grant and possible eligibility changes could increase county mental‑health service capacity and billing, but they also create fiscal and staffing tradeoffs if demand rises faster than reimbursements or available case managers.
What’s next: county staff will submit the Sourcewell application and continue tracking state decisions on TCM reimbursement and SPMI eligibility; commissioners said they expect a clearer picture after the state legislative work concludes.
