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Douglas County signs two-year service agreement with Mental Health America of the Heartland for supportive housing services
Summary
The Board authorized the county administrator to sign a FY2025–FY2026 agreement with Mental Health America of the Heartland to provide supportive services for Douglas County’s Flexible Housing Pool permanent supportive housing vouchers; the contract specifies program enrollment through the coordinated entry system and HMIS data entry obligations.
The Douglas County Commission on Nov. 5 authorized the county administrator to sign a FY2025–FY2026 service agreement with Mental Health America of the Heartland to provide supportive services for the county’s Flexible Housing Pool permanent supportive housing vouchers.
The motion passed by voice vote, 5–0. County staff described the Flexible Housing Pool as a locally funded permanent supportive housing voucher program: rental assistance for rent and utilities administered by the Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority, coupled with supportive services to help chronically homeless and highly vulnerable people maintain housing.
Jill, a county staff member overseeing the program, said that initial supportive services were provided by Burton Ash Community Mental Health Center but staff capacity constraints required a new partner. The county gave 90 days’ notice to the previous provider in August. Mental Health America representatives Sue Lewis (president and CEO) and Simon Mesmer introduced their organization, described a long history of HUD-funded permanent supportive housing operations, and outlined relevant program experience in Kansas and Missouri.
Public comment raised expectations about data: a speaker asked that partners be required to enter and share by‑name data and inflow/outflow tracking in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and participate in case conferencing. County staff and Mental Health America said participation in HMIS is built into the referral and program workflow; program referrals are generated through coordinated entry, and service records will be entered into HMIS as required by county funding regulations.
The agreement covers the remainder of 2025 and the full year 2026; staff said Mental Health America has experience operating HUD programs and that its staff will participate in weekly regional coordinated‑entry referral discussions. Commissioners asked about reporting, HMIS data access and how referrals will be prioritized; staff responded that referrals come from the coordinated‑entry vulnerability assessment and that a flexible housing referral team evaluates candidates.
The board’s approval authorizes the administrator to execute the service agreement and allows county staff to onboard Mental Health America as the supportive‑services partner for the Flexible Housing Pool program.
