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HRC says state cut 'living room' grant; program scales back while new $505,000 voucher-respite grant begins
Summary
The Human Resource Center (HRC) told the Edgar County Board it lost a roughly $940,000-a-year state grant for its 24/7 "living room" mental-health crisis program, will temporarily reduce hours and staff, and has won a separate $505,000 voucher-respite grant to support family respite services.
The Human Resource Center (HRC) told the Edgar County Board on July 13 that the county’s 24-hour "living room" mental-health crisis program did not receive renewal of a state marijuana-tax grant, forcing immediate program cuts and staff reductions.
HRC’s representative (Speaker 1) said the funding loss equated to about $940,000 a year and supported roughly 16 jobs. "We were the first 24/7 living room program in the state," the representative said. The agency plans to scale the service back to a roughly $260,000 annual budget for an initial three-month period while it pursues sustainability measures and local partnerships, including asking the hospital for help to carry costs.
The HRC representative described the program’s impact in specific cases: several visits averted hospitalizations or involuntary commitments, and those interventions were cited as evidence the service fills a gap between emergency-room discharge and higher levels of care. When asked for usage figures, the representative said the living room recorded roughly 800–1,000 visits per year (visits, not unique individuals).
The board heard that HRC has asked community partners for short-term relief: First Farmers Bank donated $5,000 and the organization will seek additional local support. The representative also announced a new $505,000 voucher-respite grant that will allow HRC to act as a financial agent to pass subsidy funds to families who need respite care for relatives with disabilities. "Wewill become a financial agent, basically, to pass money to families throughout our region," the speaker said.
HRC also plans to host a county summer camp for about 50 children drawn from regional school programs and said the agency is pursuing other grants and hospital partnerships to sustain crisis services. The representative warned that program staffing would be reduced to match the smaller interim budget and that HRC is working to place affected employees in other open positions.
The board did not take formal action on HRC funding during the meeting. The HRC representative asked the board whether there is a path to local funding using marijuana-tax revenue or related mechanisms; the representative said they would welcome further discussion with the board on funding options.
