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Lapeer County CMH trims vacant ABA technician posts, adds billing and IT roles amid Medicaid changes
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Summary
The Personnel Committee recommended eliminating four vacant ABA technician positions and approved new billing and part‑time IT support roles for Community Mental Health to manage changes after Region 10 relinquished PIHP Access Center duties and Medicaid eligibility shifts.
Brooke Sankiewicz, Community Mental Health (CMH) executive director, told the Lapeer County Personnel Committee on Feb. 12 that CMH is reorganizing frontline staffing and billing support after changes in service structure and Medicaid rules reduced demand for full‑time ABA technician hours. She asked the committee to remove four vacant full‑time ABA Technician positions (position numbers #381, #383, #702 and #710; Pay Grade 14) because Medicaid limits service to school‑aged children during school hours and CMH has shifted to block scheduling and more part‑time coverage.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend eliminating the four vacant ABA Technician positions. Sankiewicz also requested a new part‑time IT Technician in CMH’s Data Department (Pay Grade 18) to focus on electronic health record (EHR) compliance, Medicaid and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) requirements, vendor coordination, audit preparation and intake‑related technical support. The committee approved recommending creation and filling of that part‑time position, to be paid from within CMH’s existing budget and with no additional cost to the County General Fund.
Sankiewicz said CMH must now submit individual Medicaid claims through the CHAMPS system after Region 10 stopped receiving payments on CMH’s behalf effective Oct. 1, 2025. To handle increased billing workload, the committee approved recommending creation of a full‑time Professional BA in CMH’s Finance Division (Pay Grade 18), also to be funded from within CMH’s budget. Interim CFO Jacky Bennett and Sankiewicz discussed how appropriations paid from the County General Fund influence county budgeting versus CMH’s internal budgetary impacts.
Why it matters: The staffing and billing changes respond to both operational shifts (scheduling and intake work) and administrative changes tied to Medicaid claim processing. Moving claims processing in‑house increases administrative workload for CMH and prompted the committee to add both technical and billing staff rather than expand General Fund expenditures.
What’s next: The committee recommended these amendments to the Table of Organization to the full Board of Commissioners for final approval.