Multnomah County reports improved billing and data on school-based mental health as budget uncertainty looms

Anthony Jordan, interim behavioral health director for Multnomah County, and his team gave commissioners a quarterly report on the county's school-based mental health program, saying evaluation work and new billing practices are improving program transparency while questions about long-term funding remain.

The report, delivered by Jordan and Jessica Jacobson, interim deputy director, and Julia Dilly, an epidemiologist with Program Design and Evaluation Services, summarized an ecosystem assessment, key performance indicators (KPIs) and early financial signals. Staff reported 1,753 encounters for 449 individual youth in the first two quarters of the current reporting period, and said the share of client records missing insurance information had fallen from roughly 41—5% last year to about 11% so far this year. "More complete information about client insurance means more client services can be billed," Jacobson said.

Why it matters: commissioners pressed staff on whether improved billing will reduce reliance on county general fund dollars and how any projected revenue shortfall could affect services. Anthony Jordan said county projections for insurance receipts are preliminary and that the health department expects to…