‘Doing what we set out to do’: How Winnebago County’s mental health sales tax has been put to work so far
Ashley Trosper, a counselor with Family Counseling Services, works with children through art therapy in Rockford. She was hired, and art therapy was added at Family Counseling Services, because of funding from the half-cent mental health sales tax. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A new report from the Winnebago County Mental Health Board details the jobs created, people served and other outcomes achieved with funding from a sales tax voters approved two years ago.
But for Lynn Momberger, the executive director of Family Counseling Services, the real success is in the personal stories that happen away from the public eye.
Case in point is when a man grappling with issues of anger decided to walk away from his home with his partner and two children and seek counseling. Because funding from the sales tax helped Family Counseling Services hire additional therapists he was able to get help immediately, rather than being waitlisted.
“There’s a domestic violence situation averted. Mental health funding helped that happen,” Momberger said. “That’s how the community at large benefits.”
Family Counseling Services is one of more than a dozen organizations benefiting from the first $8.8 million in funding for mental health treatment, case management, crisis response services and family support.
“How many more stories do you want to hear,” Momberger told the Rock River Current. “Because I can rattle them off.”
‘On the right track’
Across Winnebago County, the funding helped create 84 jobs and serve more than 1,800 people with serious mental illness, severe emotional or substance abuse issues through the first half of the first year of programs, according to the report from the Mental Health Board.
The report is intended to help convey how the dollars from the half-cent mental health sales tax Winnebago County voters approved in March 2020 are being put to work.
Read the full report: Winnebago County Mental Health Board outcomes
“I’m really confident that we’re on the right track, and that we have the right partners and we funded the right kind of programs,” said Mary Ann Abate, the president of the Mental Health Board who spent decades working in the field with Rosecrance. In time, she said, “There shouldn’t be a person that’s either in a mental health crisis or needs mental health counseling that isn’t able to seek it and receive it because of the funding.”
The report states that 37 of the approximately 140 outcomes funded in the first year of program have been completed. There are 88 others in progress and 27 that have been delayed or not yet started. Those outcomes can range from hiring therapists and counselors to making renovations or creating new programs.
“Each program is filling a gap in a different way,” said Jason Holcomb, director of community impact for the Region 1 Planning Council and the board’s community health coordinator.
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In some cases, Holcomb said, the 1,800 individuals served didn’t previously have access to help. In other situations, they’re getting a different service. For example is the Mental Health Co-Responder Program, which pairs a mental health clinician with law enforcement during responses to certain calls. They also provide follow-up services to link people to the care they need.
“Would that person have maybe otherwise connected with mental health services? Maybe. But maybe it would’ve been much later in the trajectory where things would’ve escalated or become worse,” Holcomb said. “Or maybe the treatment would’ve happened through incarceration, where now that person can be diverted directly to mental health treatment and not be incarcerated.”
Holcomb said the Mental Health Board, the organizations it funded and the community “are doing what we set out to do.”
“It will take time. It will be hard work, but we’re making progress toward that goal of building a coordinated system of care — an array of services — for people with serious mental illness or emotional disturbances, substance abuse disorders to live and recover in their community,” he said. “I think we should all be proud of that, but know that we have more work ahead.”
See all the recipients: Program 2021-2022 funded programs
81% more people served
Family Counseling Services, Holcomb said, is emblematic of how organizations have put the funding to work.
The nonprofit was awarded $433,000 for the first program year, and has requested about half of that funding so far. It used the money to hire two full-time therapists, five part-time therapists and a support staff member.
Those additions helped the organization increase the number of clients it served by 81% from June 1 to Dec. 31 compared to the same sixth months a year earlier. The number of people served went from 218 to 395.
“One of the things they were experiencing early on — prior to being funded — was long wait times because there wasn’t enough availability of the counseling services,” Holcomb said.
Family Counseling Services still has a waiting list, but it is able to provide help to more people now, Momberger said.
“It runs the gamut from folks who are dealing with pretty severe trauma and severe issues to other people who may be going through a period of depression that they need help working through,” she said.
Related: Winnebago County Mental Health Board receives $18.3M in funding requests
The nonprofit also remodeled its third floor to more than double its therapy offices, including adding an art therapy room and play therapy room.
Ashley Trosper, a counselor at Family Counseling Services, said there were few opportunities for art therapy in Rockford. Art gives children an access point to help them talk about the issues they’re facing, which could range from dealing with the stress of the pandemic to co-parenting or behavioral issues.
“It gives kids a way to express their emotions through their artwork,” Trosper said. “They warm right up, they like coming to this. Sometimes I have to set a timer for kids because they want to stay and hang out. They gravitate toward this method.”
Building capacity
Nearly all the delays in organizations hitting the targets they set to accomplish are related to hiring issues, according to the report. About 30 of the 84 jobs created by the funding have been filled so far.
“We need solutions to build capacity pretty quick,” Holcomb said.
The funding from the mental health sales tax is reimbursed to organizations as they spend it. So far, $7.3 million of the first $8.8 million remains.
Now, the board is beginning its work to decide who will receive the next round of funding. A total of $18.3 million in requests from 34 agencies was made this year. The board has $15 million total to dole out.
“It’s going to be a balancing act for the amount of dollars that we have to distribute, which is considerably more than we had last year,”Abate said.
The goal of the funding is to create a healthier community, and so far it’s doing just that, said Dick Kunnert, the former Singer Mental Health director and vice president of the Mental Health Board.
“The dream that we had of putting a system of services within the community that would be helpful to the community is proving to be true,” he said.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rmgmwf.com or follow him on Twitter @KevinMHaas.
