“We will be providing less services to schools at a time where more services are actually being asked for than they have ever been asked for from schools, and we’ll be doing it with less people,” said Shannon Cox, superintendent of the Montgomery County Educational Service Center.
Multiple moving parts contributed to the reduction in funds, as well as why it took extra time for agencies to find out their full contract amounts for 2024. The Dayton Daily News previously reported on how ADAMHS has been reducing its spending by 38% and changing some of its funding cycles.
“(It is) likely that some of those agencies will need to make some decisions about lines of services or service provision, but those should not be solely dependent upon human services levy dollars because the levy was never designed for that,” said Helen Jones-Kelley, executive director of Montgomery County ADAMHS.
The biggest reduction of more than $2 million in funding will felt by Eastway Behavioral Healthcare for its housing services.
While Eastway received the largest contract with $4,391,203 for all of 2024, its 2023 contract was $6,566,794, according to ADAMHS records.
The number of people they will be able to serve will be “greatly reduced,” said John Strahm, president and CEO of Eastway.
“We serve 238 individuals in subsidized housing, 50 group home residents, 29 scattered site renters, and 44 individuals in our four residential programs whose funding has been drastically cut or eliminated,” Strahm said.
There are more than 600 people on its waiting list, he said
“Without a place to live, the mental health consumers we can no longer serve will further strain community resources, such as shelters, emergency rooms, police, jails, and their own families, who are often unable to provide needed care,” Strahm said.
Cutting group home housing, staff
Agencies like Places, Inc. ― which provides services for homeless adults diagnosed with mental health disorders ― will be reducing housing for certain clients.
The full 2024 funding amount for Places, Inc. will be $861,161, according to ADAMHS. Places, Inc.’s 2023 funding was $1,266,512 from ADAMHS.
Places, Inc. will give 30-day notices for residents of their group homes on Monday, said Laura Ferrell, CEO of Places, Inc.
“Within 30 days, those 36 beds that we have will be closed to the community,” Ferrell said.
Some of those residents have been living in those group homes for almost 30 years, she said.
The affected staff may move into other openings, but they might still have to reduce staffing, Ferrell said.
Samaritan Behavioral Health, Inc. (SBHI)’s full 2024 funding will be $240,748, down from its 2023 contract of $378,527, according to ADAMHS records.
“We are in the process of reviewing how the proposed Montgomery County ADAMHS Board funding changes would impact the services we will be able to provide,” said Beth Esposito, president and CEO of SBHI.
Programming shut down, layoffs felt
South Community Behavioral Health’s 2024 contract will be $1,232,868, which is down from from its 2023 contract amount of $2,844,368, according to ADAMHS records.
The reduction of $1.6 million was the result of ADAMHS no longer funding South Community’s Children Matter Program, which was then shut down on Dec. 31, 2023, said Lisa Carter, CEO of South Community.
Youth and families on the program transitioned to other services at South Community or other organization in the area.
“For our staff, it meant losing a job they loved,” Carter said.
Some staff members moved to different positions at South Community, but others did not.
“There were, unfortunately, some layoffs that occurred,” Carter said.
Prevention services being reduced
The way prevention services are funded by ADAMHS is also being adjusted at the same time the organization is reducing spending, leading to significant reductions for the next six months.
The Montgomery County Educational Service Center will see one of the biggest reductions for its K-12 prevention programming. The center’s funding from ADAMHS for the last six months of this year is $140,833, while its previous 12-month contract was $1,857,470, according to ADAMHS records.
The center warned staff in the spring that the reduction in funding would be coming,
“We have had several staff members that have left to find jobs in other sectors or in other places, and we don’t blame them,” Cox said.
Dayton Children’s will be receiving $171,852 for the next six months of 2024 for its student resiliency coordinator program, which is down from what they received in the previous 12-month contract amount of $2,737,627, according to ADAMHS records.
“We work closely with our community partners, like ADAMHS, to keep our programming operational and balanced to meet the needs of our community’s students,” said a statement from Dayton Children’s Hospital.
It will have a fuller picture of the funding for that program when the ADAMHS board meets later in the year to determine funding for 2025.
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