Human services prepares to manage mental health clients

Rock County residents seeking mental health services through state and federal assistance programs will have a choice about where to continue counseling after Jan. 1.
Southwest Health and Human Services, based in Marshall, is developing a unique program for Rock and Pipestone counties where multiple third-party counseling services would be available to income-eligible residents.
Beth Wilms, SWHHS executive director, and members of her mental health team talked about the developing mental health program at the Rock County Board of Commissioners meeting Dec. 13.
“We want to grow services — we want to provide a comprehensive continual care,” she said via Zoom.
“This withdrawal allows for a little choice and clients can really direct their care and not be limited to a Rule-29 community health center.”
Since the late 1950s, Rock County’s income eligible residents were referred exclusively to Southwestern Mental Health Center (SWMH), Luverne, which managed the budget for the six counties involved in the service agreement with the center.
Due to shortfalls in the upcoming mental health center’s budget, commissioners were unwilling to contribute an additional $500,000 to continue the third-party counseling agreement.
Instead, on Jan. 1 Rock County will join Pipestone County and allocate the $400,000 annually spent by both counties for mental health services for income-eligible residents.
Wilms said the mental health center in Luverne has not revealed the total number of clients receiving counseling services paid for by either Rock or Pipestone counties.
Because of the uncertainty of the number (which could be more than 250 clients), human services personnel are contacting counseling services in Luverne, Pipestone and Sioux Falls to prepare for clients contacting human services for continuing mental health services starting in a matter of weeks.
“We are scrambling just to make sure we have some basic services provided so that people won’t fall through the cracks,” Wilms said.
Communication with existing clients appears to be limited, she said, with some clients receiving letters from the mental health center indicating their treatment through the Luverne location is ending Dec. 31.
In discussions with the mental health center, Wilms said, when possible and due to strict data privacy rules, a “warm handoff” will be completed when an appropriate counseling service is chosen by the client.
The handoff would be handled on a one-by-one basis as service with Southwestern Mental Health ceases.
It is unclear if the SWMH center would be among the third-party counseling services.
“We are hearing some mixed messages,” Wilms said. “We do not know what type of services this will be.”
After a two-year absence, the mobile crisis service will return as part of a state Department of Health grant. The Luverne mental health center will manage the crisis services for the area that includes Rock County.
Wilms said the expansion of third-party counseling options in Rock County has positive merits for the vulnerable clients.
“There is still a stigma in mental health and they may not want to get services in the community that they live in,” she said.
“The plan is to have a multiple choice of services in Rock County (that includes options in Luverne, Pipestone or Sioux Falls).”