RI International cited losses in the millions and an inability to keep up with costs as its reasons for why it was leaving the county and would no longer be providing the three-tiered crisis services. Its last contract with Montgomery County ADAMHS also allowed RI International to give a two-week notice that it would be leaving.
The county is still communicating with RI International and the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as RI International is providing crisis receiving center services in Franklin County.
“Their model is one that we couldn’t afford here. We couldn’t keep it in place,” said Helen Jones-Kelley, executive director of Montgomery County ADAMHS.
Franklin County is providing additional funds for its RI International crisis receiving center, which has also received funds from the city of Columbus and American Rescue Act Plan funds.
In comparison, Montgomery County only paid for services rendered and not the building, Jones-Kelley said previously.
ADAMHS put out a request for proposals (RFP) in late August to find a replacement provider for these services after a majority of the board voted down replacements its staff recommended after the RI International debacle.
The RFPs were limited to local providers, but only a couple providers submitted proposals, including two for the call center, one for the mobile crisis services and none for the crisis receiving center, according to ADAMHS records. The one proposal for the mobile crisis services came from the provider staff had recommended in May that the majority of the board shot down, which was DeCoach Recovery Centre.
One of the providers for the call center is already providing those services through the 988 service, which is the national suicide hotline number. The board this week gave ADAMHS staff the go-ahead to continue using the 988 service instead of pursuing its own crisis call center.
It is also unlikely that a provider would commit to providing services for the crisis receiving center, particularly without Medicaid codes that would allow the provider to bill Medicaid for providing some of those services, Jones-Kelley said during the recent board meeting.
“There’s still a lot to be done here, but we’ve got to do something to provide the service. We can’t wait until the state has actually figured out and installed all of it,” Jones-Kelley said.
The county is now only going forward with pursuing a provider for mobile crisis services for the county, but Jones-Kelley requested from the board to extend the search to providers outside of the county after only getting one proposal earlier this year.
“If we have a global crisis response team, we will lower the numbers of people going to our hospital emergency departments,” said Tina Rezash Rogal, director of external affairs at ADAMHS.
The RFPs will be extended to out-of-county providers, delaying the potential implementation of mental health crisis services in Montgomery County through January.
Board members also asked for contracts not to include a clause that would allow the provider to exit as quickly as RI International did.
“I’m concerned about the individuals in our community that need these services, and that we sustain it, and that all of a sudden it’s not pulled out from under us,” said board member Jay Wainscott.
About the Author
