Commissioner: County mental-health intake moved from centralized 800 line to local access; 98 screenings reported in first month

Commissioner Roger Ballard reported to the Sand Lake County Board of Commissioners that the county's mental-health access system was reconfigured in October so callers now contact community mental health directly rather than an 800 number routed through the district access center.

"The total number of requests for screening they've had is 98," Commissioner Roger Ballard said. "Walk-in requests was 17. Phone requests were 81. Requests that ended in same-day intake was four. Requests that ended in same-day crisis was six. Scheduled intake is 88." He added the county uses a 14-day goal for scheduling intake and the longest delay since the change has been seven days.

Nut graf: The change is intended to reduce dropped calls and quicker routing of people seeking help. Ballard said the revised process has produced same-day crisis responses and same-day intakes in a small number of urgent cases and that scheduled intake appointments are generally being set within the county's 14-day target.

Board members praised the work to reconfigure access and the commissioners passed related consent items that included funding for community mental-health programs. The board also approved a Project Connect sponsorship for 2025 and 2026 later in the meeting; that item will be funded from the Safe Partnership Mill Fund.

Why it matters: Faster and more direct access to community mental-health services can shorten response times for people in crisis and help connect residents with timely care.

Next steps: Commissioners asked staff to continue monitoring intake metrics and report back if delays approach the 14-day scheduling target.