Cayuga County’s mental-health provider informed the Legislature Jan. 14 that it will accept state Office of Mental Health (OMH) funds for loan-repayment to retain partner practitioners and social workers and that Moravia School District will reimburse the county for a therapist providing dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) services in that district.

The OMH program provides up to $30,000 per clinician over three years ($10,000 per year) for eligible practitioners who remain employed during the payment period, the presenter said. County officials described the program as a retention tool; participation depends on employees’ eligibility and application.

The county also accepted a reimbursement agreement with the Moravia School District to cover school-based DBT therapy and universal DBT skills training for middle-school students. Officials said the arrangement will allow a therapist to provide individual treatment, group skills work and collect outcome data for program evaluation.

Separately, county mental-health staff reported they have begun work to implement electronic medical records (EMR) and will hold weekly calls as the system is phased in; staff said the transition will require significant training but should streamline billing and clinical workflows once complete.

Both funding measures (HH18, HH19) were approved by voice vote during the meeting.