Greene County officials, school leaders and child-welfare staff raise alarm over mental-health access after high child-fatality rates

Greene County commissioners heard extended public comment and agency testimony Wednesday highlighting gaps in local mental-health services for children and families and the county’s high infant and child fatality rates.

Emily Bach, who oversees the fetal, infant and child fatality review program for Greene County and six neighboring counties, told the commission that “Greene County does have, a mental health crisis. It is literally killing our children.” Bach presented county-level figures she said were drawn from reviews and regional comparisons, saying Greene County’s infant mortality rate from 2018–2022 was 7.9 and the child fatality rate was 7.7, both high in the South Central region. She also said 52 percent of child removals were linked to parental substance use and that the county’s suicide rate was “19 24” as presented to the board.

The data supported similar accounts from local child-welfare and school officials. Sean McBride, director of the Greene County office of the Indiana Department of Child Services, said the county has seen a decline in therapists and high turnover at Hamilton Center, the county’s community mental-health provider, forcing DCS to contract outside the county. “We just see this is causing danger to our children in the Greene County area,” McBride said, describing long waits and largely virtual care rather than in-person services.

Ken Howard, assistant principal at Eastern Green High School, read a letter from Superintendent Doug Lewis documenting the district’s loss of school-based mental-health providers. The letter says an outside provider made an offer to place four staff in the district but rescinded that offer after state-level review citing Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) contractual obligations. The letter requests a “letter of release” from Hamilton Center to permit another provider to deliver school-based services and asks for an itemized accounting of roughly $186,000 in county funds allocated to Hamilton Center so the district can assess whether county dollars are being used to serve Greene County students as intended.

Commissioners and county staff discussed short-term and legislative options. County attorney Marvin (surname not specified in the record) told the board that service-area lines and some CCBHC rules are set at the state level and recommended discussing the issue with state legislators and, if necessary, the governor’s office. Commissioners said they would explore options for local accountability measures while pursuing state-level remedies.

Representatives of Hamilton Center answered the concerns during public comment. Cindy Rotman, identifying herself as a Hamilton Center representative with offices in Woodfield and Owen County, said Hamilton Center already places staff in some Greene County schools and invited county and school leaders to meet directly to review concerns. “Every Wednesday, we have someone there in the middle school and the elementary school,” Rotman said, naming a staff member who signs in at the schools and meets students.

Multiple speakers disputed parts of Hamilton Center’s annual report to the county, saying it lists services and regular attendance at local review and community meetings that, attendees said, have not occurred. A jail official reported that Hamilton Center’s sign-in records showed 14 sign-ins in 2023, 25 in 2024 and none so far this year, and said the county currently relies on contracted medical providers and on its own mental-health staff for jail services.

Speakers outlined near-term steps they want the commission to take: request a written response from Hamilton Center about the discrepancies documented by schools and child-welfare staff; seek the requested letter of release so other providers can bid to deliver school-based services; obtain an itemized accounting of county funds paid to Hamilton Center; and ask state legislators to consider changes to service-area and CCBHC rules. County staff said they would attempt to secure the letter of release and suggested commissioners contact state representatives and senators to pursue legislative remedies.

The board did not take a formal vote on any of these measures during the meeting. Commissioners directed staff to continue pursuing documentation from Hamilton Center and to inform the board of progress at a future meeting.

Ending

Speakers urged prompt action. As McBride noted during public comment, “we can’t wait until next legislative session to correct this problem,” and others pressed the commission for both local accountability and state-level change.