2021 Annual Report
OUR MISSION
Community Mental Health of Ottawa County partners with people with mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance use disorders and the broader community to improve lives and be a premier mental health agency in Michigan.
DIRECTOR'S LETTER
Resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change. Certainly, the last two years of dealing with the pandemic have pushed the limits of our resiliency and yet we continue to cope, find solutions, and be hopeful. Our staff have demonstrated amazing resiliency as they work to adapt to the use of tele-health practices, adjusting work locations, and addressing staffing shortages. Our providers have persevered despite unprecedented labor shortages and management of quarantines and vaccines.
The people we serve have continued to succeed, prosper, and grow in the midst of stress and uncertainty. And we know it’s not over yet. Resiliency can be learned and developed. There are many commonsense things you can do to build your resilience; stay connected to family and friends, keep things in perspective, participate in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing.
If you need help, reach out and talk about your concerns or call us at 1-877-588-4357. In our 2021 Annual Report you will find many examples of how the people we serve, staff, and contractual providers work together to build resiliency and live better lives.
Thank you to the CMH Board, our partners, and this community for allowing us to do this great work.
MILLAGE DOLLARS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES
Participants at the Drop-In Program engage in a number of activities that allow them to interact and become friends, including arts and crafts, games, science projects, and every morning starts with a devotional. Everyone eats lunch together at noon and then helps clean up at the end of the day. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it together as friends.
“I like coming here because I like hanging out with my friends because I don’t see them too often. We hang out, goof around, play games, and just have fun. That just is what it is. It’s a great time to have fun and enjoy each other’s company.”
-Derek Richards, Drop-In Resident
The program also allows people to get out into their community by going to the library, visiting thrift stores, and returning soda cans. In the summer, trail walks are a popular activity that allows people to enjoy the sunshine during the warmer months. Admittedly, the pandemic has made being in the community more difficult than in the past, yet the goal remains to give individuals meaningful, life-enriching experiences every day.
This year, millage dollars allowed the Drop-In Program to provide additional staff to support individuals, the program, and the activities that make the program special.
“We have been very thankful for the millage dollars we have been given to help support the program. Because if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t be able to do this. We have wonderful donors, but this has allowed us to be able to have the program we have, engage with during the day, and get them out into the community. Because if we didn’t have the staff, we wouldn’t be able to go out in the community. And that’s what we want – we want to open up their world and make sure that they are able to be a part of it.”
-Earlene Klein, House Supervisor
PERSONS SERVED
REVENUE REPORT
EXPENDITURE REPORT
MENTAL HEALTH MILLAGE AND GRANTS 2021 OUTCOMES
Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant
and Substance Abuse Program
COSSAP is expanding available services for inmates with a SUD to include group and individual therapy, medications for opioid use disorder, case management, and re-entry coordination.
The COSSAP program is staffed by one mental health clinician and one recovery coach. The COSSAP staff work closely with the Jail to ensure inmates have access to substance use treatment services while incarcerated and are connected to services when they are released in an effort to reduce recidivism. Over 50 individuals have received services with COSSAP to date.
Ottawa County Crisis
Intervention Team
The Crisis Intervention Team is a community-based program in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, central dispatch, and other stakeholders. The CIT is comprised of a steering committee which oversees the work of a coordinator, two CMH mental health clinicians, and assigned officers from the Holland Police Department, Zeeland Police Department, and Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department. All team members complete a 40-hour training in the CIT model which is nationally recognized for enhancing crisis response in the community.
The CIT model began in Memphis in the 1980s and recommends 25% of a community’s law enforcement complete specialized training in: mental health and substance use disorders, crisis de-escalation, and community-specific services and resources. Ottawa County implemented co-response using the CIT model in the Fall 2021, co-response partners a mental health clinician with a CIT officer to provide more intensive interventions to what are often complex cases.
These interventions include connecting people in a mental health crisis to needed resources and offering mental health assessments and evaluation in order to prevent people being incarcerated or hospitalized. The CIT Steering Committee plans to have additional officers trained in the model in 2022.
OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING
GOALS FOR 2022
GOAL #1
GOAL #2
GOAL #3
GOAL #4
BOARD MEMBERS
ROBERT BROWN
AL DANNENBERG
MATT FENSKE - CHAIR
TERRY GOLDBERG
JAMES HOLTVLUWER
Richard Kanten
JULIE KENYON
BETH LARSEN
Dave Parnin
Alberto Serrano
Vonnie Vanderzwaag – Vice Chair
Doug Zylstra
– Secretary
