County approves assignment of Southeastern facility lease to Community Partners

Strafford County commissioners authorized the assignment of a lease for a mental-health service facility from Southeastern (Southeast Financial Services/Southeastern) to Community Partners, the county’s mental-health provider, after officials said the state Attorney General’s Office reviewed the proposed transfer and indicated it was satisfied.

County officials said the transfer does not change lease payments or the operational dynamics of the county’s relationship with the provider. Commissioners were told the lease assignment follows about two years of negotiation and multiple hearings with the Attorney General’s Office regarding Community Partners’ ability to assume Southeastern’s responsibilities.

Speakers framed the transfer as a potentially positive step for local behavioral-health services, noting the long-standing financial pressures on Southeastern and the broader challenges in the state and federal reimbursement systems that affect service providers’ ability to operate. County staff and commissioners discussed how the consolidation could simplify local service delivery for clients with co-occurring mental‑health and substance‑use conditions.

Officials also discussed recent capacity issues in the sector: county staff reported that a local residential treatment provider (referred to as Farnham) was closing its in-person services, reducing bed availability for continuing care and complicating local referral options. Commissioners said state-level budget negotiations and settlements can affect county cash flow and reimbursement relationships with local facilities and noted they expected any remaining county procedural votes to be completed so the transfer could move forward. A motion to authorize the lease assignment was made, seconded and the commissioners voted in favor.