Richland County public health outlines mental health and substance-misuse initiatives, business toolkit and trainings underway

Evan, public health specialist with Richland County Health and Human Services, briefed the Community and Health Services Standing Committee on Oct. 2 on implementation of the county’s Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), focusing on mental health and substance misuse.

The CHIP, adopted after a county community health assessment, identified two priority areas: substance misuse (with an emphasis on adult binge drinking) and mental health. "We started implementation in May 2024," Evan said, describing work groups for each priority and a mix of seven strategies that range from information provision to policy modification.

For substance misuse, the county partnered with the Partners for Prevention coalition to perform alcohol compliance checks with law enforcement and to promote event safety at community gatherings. Evan said beverage-server training is scheduled for Nov. 3 at the Phoenix Center for licensed servers.

In mental health, staff formed a new work group and focused on employers and stigma reduction. The county distributed a mental-health business toolkit to local employers; 21 businesses completed a survey and 13 indicated they were receptive to receiving additional resources. "We created this mental health business toolkit," Evan said, noting toolkit materials include QR codes and links that employers can share with staff.

Public outreach included a Mental Health Awareness Month campaign with window clings distributed to more than 70 businesses and regional radio promotion. The county also collaborated with a local walking program to share weekly resources on physical activity, mindfulness and stress reduction with more than 310 participants.

The county has implemented the "Make It Okay" stigma-reduction curriculum developed by HealthPartners in Minnesota; Evan and Alicia Woodhouse are trained facilitators. Since August the county offered three presentations: one to a coordinating meeting with seven attendees, a community event at the Brewer Public Library with 11 attendees and two employer sessions at Schmidt Woodland Hills with a combined 42 attendees. Post-event surveys from the community session (8 returned) indicated increased knowledge and a high likelihood participants would share resources.

Evan said the work group intends to continue outreach to businesses, expand presentations and promote protective factors such as physical activity and social supports. He also described measurement plans: the county will track long-term objectives including the County Health Rankings metric for poor mental-health days and measures from the community health assessment planned for the next cycle (likely 2027). "There are two long term objectives that we're looking at," Evan said, noting national and state data sources such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for youth measures and hospital data for substance-related emergency visits.

Committee members asked about access to providers and psychiatrists in the county. Staff said Richland County has psychiatry and psychology services but appointment availability is limited and many counties face provider shortages; telehealth partially mitigates gaps. The county will continue training presentations, outreach to employers and work with health-care partners to identify screening and referral pathways.

Committee members expressed support for continued measurement and for targeting populations with access barriers, including people without employer-provided coverage and veterans.

The county’s next steps include additional business outreach, more community presentations of Make It Okay, continued event safety work and tracking CHIP measures over time.