COUNTY CLERKS

When you participate in the AAC Workers’ Compensation Trust, you can relax in the hands of professional staff members who are going to take care of your needs. The AAC team has decades of experience in handling county government claims – they’re simply the best at what they do! Did we mention that participants in our plan are accustomed to getting money back? Since we started paying dividends in 1997, the AAC Workers’ Compensation Trust has declared almost $31.35 MILLION dollars in dividends, payable to members of the fund. In fact, we mailed $750,000 in savings back to member counties in July 2022. The service is available for any size county government and other county government-related entities. We’ve got you covered!

• Youth behavioral health needs are at the forefront of the crisis. Two-thirds (67 percent) of counties reported that youth behavioral health conditions are “definitely a problem” or “very prevalent and/or severe.”

• Limited access to services inhibits county residents from receiving the help they need. Seventy-four percent of counties cited financial costs as a barrier to expanding access to behavioral health services, and 71 percent cited lack of direct service providers.

• The crisis is exacerbated by a lack of behavioral health workers. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of counties consider the shortage of behavioral health workers in their county to be “definitely a problem” or “a severe problem.”

• The financial and human costs of behavioral health are compounding across all county systems. Eighty percent of counties indicated that they incurred associated costs in the legal system (courts and jails), 77 percent indicated associated costs in law enforcement, and 54 percent indicated associated costs in the health system and hospitals.

The report pairs key findings with associated policy objectives (https://bit.ly/430d7Fn), including:

• Amending detrimental policies under Medicaid, like the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy (MIEP) and the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion

• Obtaining direct and flexible resources to support the recruitment, training and retention of a sufficient behavioral health workforce

• Enhancing the intergovernmental partnership for the development and modernization of local crisis response systems and infrastructure, and

• Enforcing policies that ensure equitable coverage for treatment of mental illness and addiction.

“We are committed to advocating for solutions that alleviate suffering, address workforce shortages, remedy systemic failures, and produce better results for all,” said Winfrey.

To access the full report, “Behavioral Health Conditions Reach Crisis Levels: Counties Urge Stronger Intergovernmental Partnerships and Outcomes,” navigate to this link: https://bit.ly/3Mx8GfV.

For more information about NACo’s Commission on Mental Health and Wellbeing, navigate to this link: https:// bit.ly/3WawTvt.

— Nicole Weissman

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