Colonial Behavioral Health tells York County supervisors it is expanding crisis and front‑door services; asks for clearer community referral data

David Cohen of Colonial Behavioral Health gave the board an overview of the agency’s history, services and current challenges during a March 3 presentation.

Cohen said Colonial, formed in 1971, serves four jurisdictions and that York County appoints six of its 15 board members and serves as fiscal agent. "We've been partnering with York County for a long time," he told supervisors, noting Colonial’s total budget this year is "just north of $25.5 million." He said about half of the agency’s funds are state‑administered, local funds make up around 18 percent and grants and fees supply the remainder.

The presentation focused on service models: Cohen described mobile crisis teams that can respond to homes, schools or other on‑scene locations to intervene before situations escalate. He said the agency has restructured its “front door” and is on pace to double the number of people served there this year. "We're really making some major changes," he said.

Cohen also outlined long‑running contracts and partnerships — for example, Colonial contracts Part C early childhood services with Child Development Resources — and said the agency operates two 4‑bed group homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities located in York County.

Board members pressed for more granular performance data. One supervisor asked for counts of suicide‑related calls, drug‑related interventions and other categories; another asked how many calls per month Colonial handles and what percentage come via referrals (hospitals, social services, police, courts) versus direct contacts from families. Cohen said he had not brought that level of specificity to the meeting but offered to collect and return with breakdowns.

Supervisors and Cohen also discussed workforce shortages for licensed clinicians and direct support professionals, and difficulties placing some patients in state hospital beds because many beds are reserved for forensic populations. Cohen said those constraints increase transports out of the area and add operational strain.

The board asked county staff and Colonial to coordinate outreach and to provide the requested call‑volume and service‑type data that supervisors said they need to evaluate local funding and outreach strategies. The presentation closed with the board thanking Cohen for the briefing and requesting follow‑up numbers on front‑door volume and crisis service types.

The board took no formal action on Colonial’s request at the meeting; Cohen said Colonial would deliver the data upon request.