Wayne County approves Amendment 5 to SEMHA contract to reallocate funds and add juvenile clinical staff

Wayne County commissioners approved Amendment 5 to a five-year professional services contract with the Southeastern Michigan Health Association (SEMHA) to reallocate money among existing health programs while keeping the contract’s total value and term unchanged.

The amendment moves $124,000 into a Juvenile and Youth Services (JYS) program cost center to add a clinical staff position and reduces the juvenile detention facility clinical line by the same amount. Separately, a grant line that originated as COVID-related contact tracing funding — broadened to support infectious disease surveillance and response — was shifted in accounting after a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Hamtramck took its own contract with SEMHA; the county’s paperwork shows roughly $1.4 million moved between FQHC and infectious-disease lines as a result of that change. Dr. Avni Sheth, chief medical officer and director of the clinical care services division, described the tracing line as a longstanding, year-to-year state grant that now covers broader infection control and prevention work and noted federal funding uncertainties affecting that stream.

The reallocation prompted questions from commissioners about how decisions were made and how the shifts would affect services. Commissioner Killeen asked why the juvenile detention clinical center lost funds while JYS gained them; Sheth said the change was requested to support adding a staff member to a specific JYS cost center and that overall health services and operations would continue to be supported. Commissioner Baker McCormick pressed the department to provide the commission with ongoing updates about pending federal funding cuts and to supply a count of SEMHA-contracted staff working in county programs and how many have transitioned to full-time county employment. Sheth said the department would try to provide data on current SEMHA staffing and the extent to which those contractors have been converted to county positions, while noting there are operational and classification limits that can prevent straightforward conversions.

Melissa Fernandez, director of Juvenile and Youth Services, told commissioners the department is working with state Department of Health and Human Services and the courts on placement and capacity. Fernandez said the juvenile detention facility (JDF) currently has 30 young people waiting for Level 2 placements and that statewide vacancies and long lengths of stay at some long-term facilities are creating placement challenges. She said JDF is licensed for 130 beds, has 160 physical beds, and has been operating under 100 for some time; the department is considering an RFP to establish a county-run 30-bed residential facility inside JDF to address placements. Fernandez also said JDF has an on-site dentist, Dr. Pam Bradford, who provides general dental services and that more complex dental procedures are referred out.

A motion to approve the amendment was moved by Commissioner Baker McCormick, supported by Commissioner Killeen, and recorded as carried. The transcript does not list a numeric roll-call vote.

Commissioners asked for ongoing briefings and data — including a simple staffing count of SEMHA-contracted workers in county programs and how many were later hired as county employees — for future oversight.

Ending: The commission approved the bookkeeping changes in Amendment 5 and requested follow-up reports on federal grant exposure, SEMHA staffing counts, and juvenile placement progress; no change to the amended contract’s total value or term was made explicit in the record.