Common Ground urges Oakland County to pause OCHN takeover of crisis services, warns of layoffs and service disruptions

Common Ground leaders asked the Oakland County Board of Commissioners'Health and Human Services Committee on Nov. 4 to pause a planned transition of county‑funded crisis services to Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN), saying the change was already underway without a collaborative transition plan and that doing so risks service disruption and significant financial harm to their nonprofit.

"There isn't a transition plan," Heather Ray, identified in the presentation as CEO of Common Ground, told the committee, saying the plan the nonprofit received from OCHN was "very much one‑sided" and did not preserve Common Ground's interests. Ray and other speakers said Common Ground proposed three "must‑haves"—that the nonprofit not be financially damaged by the transfer, that its core administration remain in place, and that retention payments be made to keep staff delivering services during any handover. Presenters said OCHN rejected all…