Lawrence County approves four contract amendments for mental‑health providers totaling $100,000 in added spending

Lawrence County commissioners on April 29 approved four amendments to existing contracts with local mental‑health and developmental services providers to reallocate underspent fiscal‑year dollars to provider operating needs. The board approved increases to contracts for Patch’s Place, Northview Estates, the Children’s Advocacy Center and Cyclomet Associates.

Scott Baldwin, director of Lawrence County Mental Health and Developmental Services, told the board the contracts run for the county’s current fiscal year, July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, and the department sought to reinvest dollars that had not been spent into its providers. "As we get towards the end of our fiscal year, and we have dollars that haven't been spent, we'd like to reallocate those and reinvest them into our providers," Baldwin said.

Patch’s Place: Baldwin said Patch’s Place needs furniture replacements and help covering food and supply costs. The board approved increasing the Patch’s Place contract from $537,100 by $50,000 to $587,100. Baldwin said the vast majority of the funds for the increase are human‑services block grant dollars that come from state and federal sources.

Northview Estates: Commissioners approved a $10,000 increase for Northview Estates, a personal‑care home in New Castle, raising its contract from $50,000 to $60,000. Baldwin said the increase was needed after a nearby personal‑care home closed and additional residents were relocated to Northview.

Children’s Advocacy Center: The board approved boosting the center’s contract from $70,000 to $95,000 to cover training costs and higher‑than‑anticipated service demand. Baldwin said some of the center’s grant requests were not approved and the county increase helps maintain their operations.

Cyclomet Associates: The county approved increasing the contract for Cyclomet Associates, whose medical director provides trainings and jail evaluations, from $125,000 to $140,000 to cover additional trainings and services through June.

Commissioner Dan moved to approve all four resolutions as a package; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll call. Commissioner Kennedy and Commissioner Belvoir recorded "Yes" votes in the roll call that closed the item and the chair declared the motion carried.

The department and commissioners emphasized that the increases use existing state and federal human‑services block grant funds and will not add costs to the county general fund. Baldwin described the changes as reallocations of current fiscal‑year funding rather than new appropriations.

The board handled the four contract amendments (resolutions 85–88) together and approved them by roll call.