County council approves Salt Lake County Division of Behavioral Health FY26 area plan

Salt Lake County Council voted on May 13 to approve the Division of Behavioral Health Services fiscal year 2026 area plan after a detailed presentation from county behavioral health staff.

Division director Tim Whalen and associate director Jeannie Edens briefed the council on the plan’s new and notable elements, including the recently opened HMHI receiving center (referred to in the presentation as the scribe care center), expanded assertive community treatment (ACT) teams, new residential and supportive housing projects, and Medicaid policy changes that affect local program funding.

Edens and Whalen told the council the receiving center opened in March and functions as a crisis receiving facility providing 23-hour stabilization in chairs rather than beds, with a connected rapid stabilization unit offering psychiatric beds for longer stays when needed. The presenters described services available at the receiving center, including medication-assisted treatment, enrollment support for Medicaid, and coordination with community partners such as legal defenders and treatment providers.

The area plan also proposes growth in ACT teams — teams that provide intensive, mobile, interdisciplinary care for people with severe and persistent mental illness — and reported that the county is serving roughly 405 clients across five teams with capacity for about 500. Edens said the county has added mental health residential capacity (for example, a 16‑bed men’s program) but that waitlists persist, and she emphasized housing shortages and workforce constraints as key drivers of that backlog.

Staff discussed multiple new and planned housing projects tied to the area plan, naming Switchpoint, Featherstone, Odyssey House and others as partners in creating boarding‑home style units and supportive housing; county representatives noted some funding connected to state legislative action and county contributions to purchase and operate facilities.

Speakers also summarized recent federal- and state-level policy developments. The council heard that Utah received federal approval to use Medicaid dollars for services delivered in the 90 days prior to release from jail under the justice‑involved waiver, and that Medicaid rates for mobile crisis outreach and peer support staff increased in the recent legislative session. Whalen and Edens described inclusion of behavioral health funding in the state Medicaid “consensus process” (related to the federal medical assistance percentage, or FMAP), a change staff said makes the state responsible for adjusting appropriations tied to federal FMAP shifts.

During the discussion council members asked about family- and community‑based supports for people discharged from programs, how prevention and coalition work reach the West Side and other neighborhoods, provider contracting cycles and oversight, accountability measures, and the role of Medicaid and other funders in covering services. Health Department prevention lead Alisa Stewart described the county’s prevention strategy, which the presentation called Community Centered Evidence Based Prevention (CCEBP). Stewart described 17 community coalitions, school-based and youth advocacy programming, environmental strategies (including retailer compliance checks for alcohol and tobacco) and the department’s use of block-grant, state, and settlement funds to support prevention programming.

Council members moved to approve the area plan and the motion passed. Council discussion and public exchanges during the presentation noted the complexity of the local system described in an “octopus” chart staff provided, which maps county, state and federal funding streams, Optum-managed Medicaid flows, contracted providers, crisis services and housing supports.

Staff told the council the area plan is a working document and the local authority can request changes with the state after submission. The plan needed council approval to meet a state submission deadline on May 15.

The county’s presentation materials summarized FY24 service volumes and FY26 budgets for mental health and substance use disorder programs, and outlined ongoing challenges including the state hospital bed shortage, workforce constraints, and limited housing that can prevent timely discharge from residential treatment.

Council members and staff agreed to follow up on specific questions about family‑focused programs, provider performance metrics and local outreach to immigrant and West Side communities. Staff offered to meet with council members and community groups to provide more localized information and to share provider and program details.

The council’s approval allows the Division of Behavioral Health Services to submit the FY26 area plan to the state and continue implementing the programs and budgets described in the plan.