Douglas County proclaims May 2025 Mental Health Awareness Month, highlights crisis-response programs and ARPA funding

The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution proclaiming May 1–31, 2025, as Mental Health Awareness Month and heard presentations from county staff and local behavioral-health partners about crisis-response work and care-coordination programs.

The resolution and accompanying remarks from the Douglas County Mental Health Collaborative and partner agencies outlined county investments, program outcomes and next steps. Laura Cinconi, representing county staff, said the county allocated “over $6,000,000 of the county’s $68,200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding” toward mental and behavioral health programming, including expansion of the Community Response Team (CRT), the Care Compact programs and support for the 988 crisis line.

The proclamation’s nut graf: commissioners and local providers said the county is emphasizing early identification and coordinated responses to behavioral-health crises to reduce emergency-department visits, jail bookings and repeated calls for service.

Local providers gave examples of programs the collaborative cited in the resolution. Developmental Pathways’ senior manager of community affairs, Rachel Walker, described the agency’s expansion to serve people with serious mental-health needs and its work within the Care Compact to coordinate wraparound services. Nikki Brooker, founder and CEO of YANA (You Are Not Alone), said a Douglas County ARPA suicide-prevention grant funded a program offering free, year-long peer wraparound support to postpartum parents at three county hospitals; she reported the program enrolled 3,100 moms in about 15 months.

County staff and partners cited outcome figures from the Douglas County Mental Health Collaborative: the Community Response Team, launched in May 2017, has served more than 9,900 unique individuals, the resolution stated, prevented about 1,700 emergency-department trips, prevented 626 jail bookings, returned emergency personnel to service about 6,500 times and estimated more than $10,400,000 saved in fire, EMS, emergency-department and jail costs. The county established a mental-health division within its Department of Human Services in 2024, the resolution noted.

All Health Network’s clinical director for Child and Family Services, Sarah Gahn, and other partners described the youth Care Compact (launched in fall 2024) and the adult Care Compact (launched in 2020). Staff said the adult care compact had served about 180 adults and reduced use of crisis and emergency services; the youth care compact had served 24 families and made 98 service connections.

Commissioners praised the collaborative work and noted county-supported programs such as the CRT and the Care Compact can provide alternatives to law enforcement or emergency-room responses. A commissioner reminded the public that 988 is available as a dedicated mental-health crisis line.

The board voted to adopt the resolution; the motion passed unanimously.

What’s next: presenters and commissioners said partners will continue county-led coordination and programming expansion funded in part through the county’s ARPA allocation and departmental budget decisions.