Advantage Behavioral Health asks Madison County to reserve opioid settlement funds for mobile outreach and staff

Advantage Behavioral Health Systems presented an overview of its services to the Madison County Board of Commissioners and asked the county to consider directing opioid settlement funds to support a new mobile outreach unit and staffing for community engagement.

Why it matters: Advantage serves low-income residents with severe mental illness, substance-use disorders and developmental disabilities across a 10-county Northeast Georgia region and says local residents already travel to its clinics. The group told commissioners a mobile RV clinic tied to opioid settlement funding would expand outreach into rural areas of Madison County where clients face transportation and stigma-related barriers.

Beth Mills, identified in the presentation as vice president for development and community relations for Advantage, told commissioners the agency is a safety-net provider that offers outpatient care, crisis response, residential treatment, employment assistance and case management. “We are a provider of services to individuals with behavioral health systems,” she said, adding the organization serves roughly 9,010 individuals annually across its region and provides hundreds of thousands of service encounters.

Mills described outreach already underway in Madison County—meetings with church groups, the ministerial association, recovery groups and first responders—and said Advantage seeks a measured, partnership-driven approach rather than a rapid, one-size-fits-all program.

On funding: Mills said Advantage has obtained an RV through a Georgia state opioid trust program and requested $50,000 from Madison County opioid settlement funds to cover part of salary for a peer-level care coordinator/case manager, vehicle maintenance and insurance, and community education/marketing materials. She said insurance costs for the RV were larger than anticipated and a large share of the $50,000 request is intended for staffing and operational costs.

Commissioners and staff noted the county is managing two distinct opioid funding streams: (1) an opioid grant with defined guardrails and (2) the larger opioid settlement disbursement, which county staff described as having vague allowable uses. Commissioners and Advantage representatives said they are awaiting clarified guidance on how the settlement dollars can be spent. Advantage representatives said they are coordinating with other counties in their 10-county region while continuing local engagement.

Next steps: Advantage left contact information and materials; commissioners indicated they will await formal guidance on allowable uses of the settlement funds before committing money. County staff said multiple local providers had asked for support and the county would evaluate requests once the rules for the settlement funds become clear.

Ending: The presentation concluded with commissioners thanking Advantage for the information and asking the organization to remain in contact as the county determines whether and how to allocate opioid settlement dollars to mobile outreach and related operating costs.