Community Mental Health Adopts 2021 Annual Budget

The Board of Directors of Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of St. Joseph County (CMH) approved a budget for the coming fiscal year at a regular meeting Tuesday. The new fiscal year begins this Thursday, October 1, and continues through September 30 of next year.

Concurrent with the passage of the budget, the board approved a list of annual contracts for receipt of a wide range of clinical and non-clinical services that are part of the agency’s work, as well as for grants through the State of Michigan and Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health (SWMBH). It also approved a list of Memorandums of Understanding for a variety of contracted services provided by CMH to other, partner agencies such as local school districts and the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging.

While many costs remained the same or similar to last year’s levels, budgeted amounts for expenditures in housing increased dramatically in some cases because state facilities stopped providing housing for some CMH clients, and the agency had to locate and pay for alternative arrangements. That change took place during the current calendar year, and the upcoming fiscal year budget’s numbers reflect the change.

Because those increases were not originally projected at the beginning of the current fiscal year, those expenditures came in higher than budgeted at the beginning of the year. However, they were partially offset by unusual changes in expenditures and income due to the ongoing pandemic. While the pandemic created some increased expenses due to unique logistical issues, restrictions on activity reduced other expenditures, and pandemic relief funds offset some losses or covered additional expenses.

The 2021 Fiscal Year budget as approved reflects matching figures for projected revenues and expenditures of $18,992,527 each. For the current, 2020 Fiscal Year, those figures were projected at $18,368,799 each. At the current fiscal year’s end on Wednesday, the actual figures came to $19,520,533 for revenues, and $17,702,155 for expenditures. 

At present, CMH has a general fund balance of $1,013,606. Some of that money belongs to restricted funds that are provided by other agencies like SWMBH, which helps fund various parts of CMH’s work, and are obligated to those agencies unless spent on specific uses.

Audits, Certifications Produce Positive Results

In her Director’s Report, CMH CEO Kristine Kirsch said the organization recently passed its recertification from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, which is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of agencies like CMH. Kirsch said the audit that accompanied the certification called for “very little to fix.”

CMH also received favorable ratings in a report and review by SWMBH, which Kirsch said “commented on how well we had done” with respect to a rapid and dramatic turnaround in the agency’s fiscal health, including its current fund balance. She said SWMBH reviewers were “really surprised how far we had come,” and recognized staff for having done “a lot of hard work.” SWMBH coordinates funding, training, review, and other activities among agencies like CMH in a number of adjacent counties.

Board Declines to Approve COVID Pay

Despite the fiscal health reflected in the fund balance, board members voted not to approve a one-time $2,000 essential worker payment to CMH employees proposed and tabled at the regular meeting in August. Board member Dennis Allen, who is also a county commissioner, said he appreciated wanting to give staff extra pay for working under tough circumstances, and said it the agency were a private company, it would not be a serious issue. However, he said, seeing other agencies struggling, he had a hard time justifying the optics of such a move.

Board member John Dobberteen said while CMH staff have remained employed during the pandemic, many other workers have lost their jobs, and while he appreciates the work that staff does, he could not justify the expenditure with public money. Several board members also said they could not see spending money from the fund balance after having carefully built it up in the last few years.

In Other CMH Business:

• Board members approved opening of an account with Omni Credit Union for CMH-affiliated Affinity House. Affinity is a Sturgis program that helps mental health patients integrate into community life. Because CMH no longer maintains its own Sturgis facility, and in order to make it easier to pay for groceries, activities, and other needs, Affinity House Supervisor Travis Kohl requested permission to open the account. 
• Dobberteen proposed changing the organization’s management succession plan for times when Kirsch is unable to serve. Under existing plans, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) would step up to fill the role. The COO’s position, in turn, would be backfilled by the Chief Financial Officer. Under Dobberteen’s proposed changes, which the board approved, the plan’s “in case of emergency” language is to be stricken, which makes the succession plan usable in any applicable circumstance.
• Kirsch recognized CMH’s Supported Employment Specialist, Kristy Barkley, for her recent accomplishments in job training and placement services for the agency’s clients. Among other things, Barkley coordinates job skills training at the popcorn stand in Three Rivers’ Scidmore Park. In the 2020 fiscal year, Barkley helped 36 CMH clients find employment.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.