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Mission Behavioral Health gives annual Midshore update; council approves FY27 core‑services agreement
Summary
Mission Behavioral Health briefed the Dorchester County Council on regional crisis response, school‑based services and suicide‑prevention work and the council voted to sign the FY27 core‑services agreement that continues the organization’s role as a local behavioral‑health systems manager.
Mission Behavioral Health representatives told the Dorchester County Council that the organization manages roughly $26 million in regional behavioral‑health funding and pushes most of those dollars into local programs. "We currently manage close to $26,000,000 that we're currently managing this year," said Katie Dilley, who identified herself as chief executive officer of Integrative Health, the presenting organization.
Ashley Strazza, a Mission Behavioral Health staffer, said the Eastern Shore Operations Center received about 8,435 calls in fiscal 2025 and roughly 3,700 calls in the first half of the current fiscal year, and described training and coordination work meant to keep more responses in the community. "The training is done, 40‑hour trainings typically, and I will say Dorchester County is doing a great job," Strazza said.
The presentation outlined school‑based investments (presenters said $5.2 million was secured for FY27) and programs for specialty populations, including services for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing clients, forensic mental‑health supports and a mobile crisis system. Speakers described prevention initiatives — including a suicide‑prevention coalition and a gun‑safety program that distributed about 900 gun locks and safes last year — and a Department of Labor grant to train 15 peer‑support specialists across the Midshore region.
Council members asked about utilization and local outcomes. Presenters said Dorchester County residents accounted for roughly 30–31% of Midshore mental‑health clients in FY24 and reported a point‑in‑time count of 59 sheltered and two unsheltered people in the county for the most recent count. The presenters also said they are coordinating with judicial partners on diversion work and exploring a mental‑health court in Cambridge.
After the presentation and a brief question period, the council moved and voted to accept the FY27 core‑services agreement with Mission Behavioral Health, continuing the organization's contractual role overseeing regional behavioral‑health programming and pass‑through funding.
