York County outlines $17.8 million Human Services Block Grant proposal, highlights co-responder teams and addiction programs

York County officials presented the proposed Human Services Block Grant budget for fiscal year 2025–26, estimating about $17.8 million in grant funds with a county match of roughly $604,000 (3.38%), Melissa Leathery, executive director of Human Services, told the Board of Commissioners.

The county said the block grant pools several funding streams into flexible allocations for local priorities, including mental-health and intellectual/developmental disability (IDD) community programs, substance-use services, and homeless assistance. “We are in the midst of working on the development of two programs, one in York and one in Adams County for behavioral crisis walk-in centers,” Leathery said, saying the centers are intended to divert people from emergency departments during behavioral-health crises.

Leathery said the 2025–26 Human Services Block Grant budget is estimated at about $17,800,000; the county match is roughly 3.38 percent (about $604,000), which she said represents approximately 8 percent of the Human Services Division’s budget. She described the planned allocation breakdown as: mental-health services receiving the largest share (about $12.7 million), IDD services about $3.0 million, substance-use services about $676,000, homeless assistance about $1.1 million, and the Human Services Development Fund about $282,000.

County staff highlighted program-level outcomes funded in part by the block grant. Leathery said the county’s juvenile detention center is now an eight-bed licensed facility and the youth shelter has completed renovations. She reported roughly 134 clients were served in inpatient substance-use settings through the grant, totaling about 1,931 days of service; the block grant also helped provide housing assistance for about 60 people not served through the State Opioid Response (SOAR) grant.

On overdose response and prevention, Leathery said the county distributed about 2,500 units of naloxone (Narcan) to 298 entities and reported 104 lives saved associated with distribution and warm-handoff efforts. Staff reported outreach to about 276 individuals after overdoses, with 149 accepting treatment. The county is starting a pilot Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) in the Hanover area that pairs a certified recovery specialist with a co-responder team, Leathery said.

Leathery also described ongoing mental-health priorities: expanding mobile responses and co-responder teams in partnership with WellSpan, developing walk-in behavioral-health centers, colocated case management and outreach in multiple school districts, and increased in-person monitoring and staff training in IDD services in line with the Office of Developmental Programs and state performance-based contracting.

Commissioners praised interagency collaboration. One commissioner (unnamed) singled out a collaborative protocol linking Bell Family Shelter and York County Emergency Management for disaster response and cited the county’s participation in the Stepping Up initiative, noting national recognition at the National Association of Counties meeting.

Leathery said the county has participated in the human services block grant since fiscal year 2017–18 and expressed hope the county will receive the grant award for the coming year. The presentation did not include a recorded vote or formal action on the grant at this meeting.