Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mental Health Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
LaSalle County board hears expansion of crisis services as 708 contracts win approval
Summary
LaSalle County Mental Health 708 Board and two regional providers described growing mobile crisis response capacity, coordination with 988 and 911, workforce shortages and local statistics; the county board then approved LaSalle County 708 mental health contracts by roll call.
LaSalle County board members heard a detailed briefing on local mental-health crisis services and voted to approve county 708 mental health contracts after presentations from the 708 board and two regional providers.
The LaSalle County 708 Mental Health Board’s part‑time director, Don Miskovich, told the board the 708 levy funds about 5% of the budgets for nine agencies the board partially supports and that the board focuses on being a “payer of last resort.” He said agencies funded by the 708 board served 5,500 individuals and families in fiscal 2024, reached about 30,000 people with community education, and delivered roughly 424,000 units of service; he described a recent three‑year plan and work to modernize service‑funding guidelines.
Nut graf: The presentation stressed that state changes — notably the Community Emergency Services and Supports (CESA) Act and 988 implementation — have increased demand for mobile crisis response, creating a need for more coordinated dispatch protocols, workforce recruitment and local service capacity. County approval of 708 contracts formalizes partial county funding for locally delivered crisis and behavioral‑health services.
North Central Behavioral Health System director Jody Mahoney and Dr. Sarah Scruggs of Aruca Institute of Healing described how expanded mobile crisis teams and new site‑based urgent care clinics are being used locally. Mahoney said North Central operates a 24/7 mobile crisis response and opened a behavioral health urgent‑care clinic in LaSalle in September 2024; she reported North Central delivered 871 in‑person crisis responses to LaSalle County residents in 2024 and that about 54 percent of crisis contacts were linked to peer support or engagement services.
Dr. Scruggs said Aruca provides a mobile crisis team that deploys unarmed clinician‑and‑peer pairs to calls anywhere in its five‑county rural region, and that Aruca’s model emphasizes building trust through a clinician plus recovery specialist (a peer with lived experience). She described Aruca’s Ottawa site purchase funded in part with a state Capital Development Board award and American Rescue Plan funds, and said Aruca’s mobile teams co‑respond with law enforcement, schools, ERs and ambulance services when appropriate.
Board members asked about how 911, 988 and local dispatches interface; presenters said dispatch protocols differ and regional planning is ongoing to align PSAPs (public safety answering points), 988 call centers and mobile crisis response. Presenters and the 708 director also noted workforce shortages in behavioral‑health professions and described grant and local funding strategies to sustain services.
Following the presentations, the board moved to approve the LaSalle County Mental Health contracts. Miss Bush made the motion, seconded by Miss Brayboy. A roll call vote was held and the motion carried; the board’s packet and roll call record show the county executed contracts to fund the FY25 agency service agreements discussed in the presentation.
Ending: County officials said they will continue regional coordination as CESA implementation progresses and will provide follow‑up information to board members and the public about service access, 988 integration and contract details.
