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Oakland Community Health Network tells commissioners crisis services are stabilizing but funding and workforce remain fragile
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Summary
Dana Lazenby, CEO of Oakland Community Health Network, updated the Board of Commissioners on school mental-health navigators, veterans navigators, the crisis transition center and co-responder partnerships, citing program metrics and warning of state and federal funding pressures.
Dana Lazenby, CEO of the Oakland Community Health Network, told the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on March 11 that the county's behavioral-health system has rapidly scaled crisis services but still faces funding and workforce challenges.
Lazenby told the board that since Jan. 29 OCHN has been operating crisis transition services previously run by Common Ground and has kept services continuous while bringing on staff and integrating programs. "We never shut down. We did not miss a beat," she said, summarizing the center's work and partnerships with local hospitals and law enforcement.
The CEO gave specific metrics to illustrate that activity: year to date OCHN has served 504 people, of whom 482 followed through with treatment; for the current fiscal period it recorded 1,928 referrals; and its law-enforcement co-responder program has logged 11,414 referrals since inception. Lazenby also said the program reports a roughly 2% arrest rate for people contacted through the co-responder model and that 47% of individuals remain supported in the community after engagement. "We're really proud of the work that we're doing to get people... engaged and connected to those much needed services," she said.
Lazenby described program elements the county has helped sustain: school mental-health navigators (downsized but still operating), veterans navigators, behavioral-health clinicians colocated at county sites, a sober-support unit and plans for crisis residential and stabilization units pending licensing and state accreditation. She said the crisis residential unit, once licensed, will support about 12–14 people for up to 5–7 days.
The OCHN leader also cautioned about external threats to funding and capacity, noting state-level reorganizations and federal funding uncertainty. "The threats are always funding, of course," she said, pointing to a recent state Request for Proposals that would reduce regional entities and could affect community mental-health providers.
The board acknowledged the presentation and applause followed when Lazenby described the co-responder program, which pairs licensed clinicians with law enforcement officers to divert people from arrest and connect them to care. Chair (spoken role) thanked OCHN and noted the partnership among county-funded programs, law enforcement and hospitals.
Going forward, Lazenby asked the board to continue partnership and support for workforce development and for sustaining key crisis services while OCHN seeks licensing and accreditation for new units. The presentation was informational; no board action was taken at that time.
