Sarah Behrend, district lead for Iowa Primary Care (District 6), and Unity Stevens, senior lead, told the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors the statewide unified behavioral‑health administrative services organization began operations July 1 and combines mental‑health and substance‑use services under one coordinating ASO.

The presentation focused on the system navigation program that routes calls to district navigators, coordinates warm handoffs and helps people overcome common barriers to care. Behrend said from July 1 through Oct. 17 the ASO logged 4,287 navigation contacts statewide, including 1,265 client calls and 15,590 service referrals; the three largest referral categories reported were mental‑health (865), housing (368) and substance use (292).

Board members pressed presenters on how the new structure would help rural residents who now travel long distances for care. Unity Stevens said district advisory councils and ongoing community needs assessments are the pathway to identifying gaps and creating satellite or localized services where feasible, while acknowledging this first implementation year will be focused on stabilizing contracts and improving billing visibility.

Iowa Primary Care described its contracting approach (125 statewide contracts across program areas) and roles such as co‑responder programs, school‑based behavioral health and peer‑operated recovery supports. The presenters invited local officials to participate in the District 6 advisory council; they said the next District 6 meeting is Dec. 3 (hybrid meeting, Washington Public Library, 11:15–1:30).

The board did not take formal action during the presentation but requested follow‑up on how navigation resources can be publicized locally and whether housing referrals identified by navigators can be elevated to local economic‑development partners.