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Events of 2008

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The Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board (CCCMHB) sent MHS and other contract agencies of the Board an eMail notification (shown below) of a substantial and unexpected reduction in Board allocations for services to those without heathcare insurance in the 2010 fiscal year that begins 1 July 2009. Coming just days after agencies were to submit their budgets to the Board, the notification states that the "budgets will be adjusted" to reflect the funding reduction. For MHS, this adjustment amounts to a funding cut of 15.8%, or $148,000, at a time of increasing demand for a broad range of mental health services.

Susan Neth, MHS Executive Director, noted with sadness that "for the first time in the history of the agency, we are questioning our ability to keep our doors open to uninsured individuals."

Trustees of the Saint Luke's Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio approved a grant of $100,000 to MHS "for operating support for critical community needs." MHS had earlier been awarded a $200,000, two-year grant from the Foundation in December 2006, and a $100,000, one-year grant in late 2005 - both to address critical needs for homeless assistance and crisis services in the greater Cleveland area.

The need for homeless assistance services is shown by data collected by the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services. Their annual point-in-time enumeration of the homeless revealed a total of 2,272 homeless individuals on just one night in January 2008. Of these, 521 (23%) had a severe mental illness, and 698 (31%) had been repeatedly or continuously homeless for more than one year.

The need for crisis services is apparent from the data on suicidal deaths. In 2007, the rate of suicidal deaths in Cuyahoga County decreased to 9.2 per 100,000 people in 2007, from 10.8 per 100,000 people in 2006. This represents a decline of 25% from the number of suicidal deaths in 2005, and is the smallest number in more than 30 years. MHS would like to help Cuyahoga County lower its rate of suicidal deaths to no higher than 8.0 per 100,000 residents. This rate would be 15% lower than the rate for Ohio as a whole, and 23% lower than the national rate.

The need for child trauma services is evident from the serious and growing rate of direct victimization of children in Cleveland. The rate of confirmed or suspected child maltreatment in Cleveland was 33.7 per 1,000, more than twice the national rate of 11.9 per 1,000. (Click here to see the data table.) Even Cuyahoga County’s rate of 19.1 per 1,000 was 60% higher than the national rate. A growing body of research shows that many children who witness domestic or other forms of community violence suffer developmental and psychological harm very similar to that of children who are directly victimized.

MHS is again profoundly grateful to the Saint Luke’s Foundation for its support of our efforts to effectively address the greater Cleveland community's compelling healthcare, housing, and supportive services needs.

Significant funding reductions are likely to reduce MHS shelter and crisis services at a time of increased demand for both. The Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners announced reductions in funding allocations to the MHS Community Women's Shelter, Emergency Shelter for Disbled Men (ESDM), North Point Transitional Housing Program, and the Children Who Witness Violence program. Amounts of some of the anticipated reductions, and the programs affected, are presented in the table below. However, Ronald Nowak, the MHS Chief Fiscal Officer, has cautioned that the total amount of funding cuts to MHS programs during the next year is likely to be approximately $376,000, which represents about 2% of projected revenues for the current fiscal year.

Susan Neth, Executive Director, announced to MHS staff members that "We are working with the Office of Homeless Services to review the ESDM budget ... Within the next several weeks we will know better the impact that this will have on client services and staffing." She also announced that "We have spent considerable time reorganizing the Management of the Community Women's Shelter to address the decrease in funding, increased shelter utilization, and emerging program needs." Reductions in staffing and security services are now being considered.

Also being considered is the elimination of one staff position at the North Point Transitional Housing Program, and the elimination of several staff positions in the Children Who Witness Violence program.

Last summer, in anticipation of diminished funding for several programs, MHS began a series of actions to conserve resources and consolidate operations. Today, despite funding reductions - and further reductions for which we have been told to plan - MHS remains committed to the uninterrupted provision of care and services for those we serve, and to the fulfillment of our mission to help people gain control of their lives by forging solutions that resolve mental health crises and end homelessness.

Thirteen 8th-grade students (left) from Hawken School, accompanied by two teachers, came to MHS to learn about its programs. Some had made a prior visit to MHS last autumn.

They later travelled to an MHS Safe Haven program, sharing lunch and conversation with its clients.

Hawken students have adoped the goal of "making a difference" in their community, and they came to learn about MHS programs and the clients they serve. Students will meet later to discuss what they've learned, and to decide where to direct charitable donations they help raise. To read about their generous donation last year, click here.

MHS thanks the students and teachers of Hawken School for their interest in the mission of MHS, and their kindness to the clients they visited. For these clients, it's a thrill to experience the genuine respect and interest of gifted, young people who will soon become the leaders of our community. Thank you!

Learn more about our clients, services, and outcomes.

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1744 Payne Avenue; Cleveland, Ohio 44114-2910 U.S.A.
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It was most recently updated on 1 May 2009.
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