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Mental-health levy sought
MAHONING COUNTY
Mental-health board
Among the agencies and programs funded by the Mahoning County Mental Health Board are:
Agencies
Burdman Group, D&E Counseling, Family Services Agency, Catholic Charities Regional Agency, Community Support Network, Family Services Agency, Help Hotline Crisis Center, Meridian Services, Turning Point Counseling Services.
Programs
Burdman’s Sojourner House Domestic Violence Program, Family Services Agency’s Rape Counseling Program, Help Hotline’s Suicide Intervention Program, Turning Points Counseling Service’s Crisis Stabilization Unit, D&E Counseling’s Depression Awareness in Schools Program, Catholic Charities Bereavement Program.
Source: Mahoning County Mental Health Board
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning County Mental Health Board officials said renewal of its five-year, 0.5-mill property-tax levy is particularly crucial in light of $4.1 million in cuts in state funding during the past two years.
The levy, Issue 2 on Tuesday’s election ballot, generates about $1 million a year, which funds mental- health services in Mahoning County, said Toni M. Notaro, mental-health-board administrative director.
In Fiscal Year 2010, agencies funded by the county mental health board served more than 12,000 Mahoning County resi-dents, providing counseling, case-management, psychiatric and many other services, Notaro said.
She said the cost of the levy for a resident whose home is valued at $100,000 is $5.56 a year.
“For the cost of an average meal at McDonald’s, a vote for Issue 2 will help support the agencies and programs that serve all of those county residents,” Notaro said.
One of those residents being helped is Marc May, who lives at the Doris Burdman Home in Youngstown, a residential mental-health-treatment facility.
While living at Burdman Home, May, 27, and other residents participate in social activities, individual and group counseling, receive transportation to appointments and have their medications monitored, said Joseph Caruso, Burdman Group executive director.
The Doris Burdman Home recently completed a $254,000 renovation, part of which expanded the facility from 12 to 21 beds.
“I don’t know what I would have done without the Burdman Home. I got support when I needed it most. It’s been a positive experience,“ said May, who has been at Burdman for three months.
Burdman could not provide services to May and other residents of the community without the financial support of the Mahoning County Mental Health Board, said Caruso.
The county health board provides about $1 million of Burdman’s annual budget of $6.5 million.
“During these difficult economic times, when people need mental-health services the most, the state Department of Mental Health is cutting funding and severely hampering our ability to provide the necessary services,” said Ronald A. Marian, executive director of the Mahoning board.
In Fiscal Year 2010, the local mental-health board’s state funding was cut $3.1 million, and almost $1 million in Fiscal Year 2009, he said.
The agency’s total budget for this year is about $17 million. The majority of the funds come from state and federal sources, but much of that money is earmarked for specific programs and services and populations, Notaro said.
Also, the mental-health board has a second levy, 0.85 mill, which generates about $3 million a year and was renewed in 2008, Notaro said.
“We are doing our best to assess where the most need is and to funnel services to meet those needs,” said Marian.
“We have definitely seen an increase in the demand for services, and Help Hotline, our 24/7 Crisis Center, has seen a dramatic increase in calls and people struggling with suicidal thoughts,” he said.