SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
Iowa finds itself in the middle of the pack when it comes to money spent on mental health.
However, an internal study found the state suffers from a major case of inconsistency in services, which vary from county to county.
The Iowa Department of Human Services wants to combine counties, and create regions to run the mental health program.
They also want to take over administration of the state's portion of Medicaid, which is currently doled out by the counties.
A state-wide survey of patients and their families shows 56% agree that mental health needs an overhaul, and 40% are dissatisfied with the current system.
While politicians, providers, and patients are all looking to this year as a monumental step toward mental health reform, the push to rewrite the system is running into road blocks.
"To be put in a position where you're taking an ax to your entire program, that's not right," said Woodbury County Supervisor Larry Clausen.
Woodbury County is facing a deep deficit in its mental health budget. The ability to tax for mental health ends on July 1st, and with it $1.9 million in funding for the rest of the year. Officials say the revenue the county receives on an annual basis from the state has been cut in half, leaving a total annual budget gap of $3.8 million.
"We used our state funds that were provided to the county, those growth dollars, and purchase dollars, as well as property tax relief dollars to develop and provide community based services that filled a need for Woodbury County," said Patty Erickson-Puttmann, Woodbury County's Social Services Director.
Erickson-Puttmann believes the state wants to use those funds to finance the new regional mental health system.
"The entire thrust here is to provide adequate services according to their needs and not according to where they live," explained Iowa Department of Human Services spokesperson Roger Munns.
The Iowa DHS's recommendation is for the state to start by taking over only the medicaid program.
"Woodbury County did not shift all the people into Medicaid funded programs. We developed additional services, and then we developed additional services that were not medicaid eligible," explained Erickson-Puttmann.
Services she and others fear won't be funded.
"It's a devastating impact upon us because of what it means to the people we serve," said Jim Rixner, the director of the Siouxland Mental Health Center which runs many of the county's programs. Those include mental health court, a one-of-a-kind in Iowa, Crisis Aversion, and Safe Schools. Eliminating these and seven other programs from the budget only saves $1.5 million.
"And then we still have an additional $2.2 million in additional services that we still have to cut," Erickson-Puttmann pointed out.
Lawmakers received a letter detailing the situation from Woodbury County leaders on Wednesday.
"This is a pretty drastic impact and I think it should give them all pause," remarked Republican State Senator Bill Anderson, who represents Woodbury, Plymouth, and Cherokee Counties.
"No matter what, no matter how you look at the issue , if we're not funding those services adequately the people who need the services most aren't going to receive them," said Representative Chris Hall, a Democrat from Sioux City.
Rixner wants reform too, but his fight is for funding.
"We're going to do everything we can do as long as we can do it and we're going to fight for the money to do it," Rixner said.
DHS says they don't want to put a band-aid on the problem, but right now, lawmakers are a long way from finding a cure.
Although DHS is confident mental health reform will pass, three different bills are being drafted.
DHS Director Chuck Palmer is asking lawmakers to reinstate the tax levy that was eliminated in the last legislative session.
However, Patty Erickson-Puttmann, who met with lawmakers and other social services coordinators in Des Moines today, says that still doesn't cover the entire budget gap.
