Barry County committee backs contract with Pine Rest for on-site court therapist

The Barry County Committee of the Whole on April 1 recommended that the Board of Commissioners approve a contract with Pine Rest to place an on-site therapist to serve court-involved individuals across family division, friend-of-the-court matters, circuit court and adult specialty courts.

Court staff member Tammy Price presented the proposal and said the county is not seeking additional funding for the service. “We are not asking for any additional funding,” Price said, adding that the contract is budgeted at $112,000 per year. Price said the in-house therapist could replace several contractual roles and potentially save the county money if some services are consolidated in-house.

Price described operational reasons for the change: the state requires assessments to determine eligibility and those assessments cost about $250 each. “Last week, for example, we did 5 assessments. And so quickly that adds up $1,000 or $52,000 per year,” she said, and added that court participants currently receive services across many providers, which complicates treatment-team reporting and continuity of care.

Commissioners asked how the new arrangement would affect participants and costs. Commissioner Getty said the on-site therapist should ease access and reduce transportation barriers; Price agreed, saying the therapist would “alleviate the transportation barrier” and could work directly with the recovery coach. Price also outlined program cost comparisons presented to the committee: assessments at roughly $250 each, weekly group costs at $180 per group, and the county’s current annual expenditures (including a $11,700 liaison cost) that together in their example exceed the $112,000 contract amount.

Committee members asked about sick-time coverage, training and whether participants could use an existing assessment instead of the county’s. Price said Pine Rest would receive up to 72 hours of sick-time coverage billed to the county for the contracted therapist and that participants who already have timely assessments could use those rather than require a county assessment. Training attendance would be funded by the court when the training is court-mandated; otherwise Pine Rest or grant funding may cover training costs.

Motion and next steps: Commissioner Getty moved and Commissioner Bassett supported a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners to approve the contract; members approved the recommendation by voice vote. The committee’s action was to recommend approval to the full board; final contract execution requires Board of Commissioners action and the court administrator’s signature as noted by Price.

The contract, if approved by the full board, will place a Pine Rest therapist on-site to provide individual therapy, assessments and group services for court participants, and to participate on treatment teams.