NEW ULM — Brown County commissioners unanimously approved mental health client assistance contract programs Tuesday.

Action came on a motion by Commissioner Tony Berg, seconded by Brian Braun. Effective Feb. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2023, programs with Eunoia Family Resource Center (EFRC), Hoffmann Counseling and Horizon Homes have a clause to automatically renew after that unless a 30- day notice is provided by either party.

Brown County Human Services Director Barb Dietz said signed contracts have not yet been received from Hoffmann Counseling and Horizon Homes but she expects them soon.

In 2019, Brown County initiated mental health client assistance contracts with four providers. It is the obligation of the county to provide mental health services to uninsured and underinsured clients.

Some specific services like medication management and ARMHS (adult rehabilitative mental health services) for ineligible clients, were only included in the contract with Southern Minnesota Behavioral Health.

With the downsizing of their agency and limiting who they see, Brown County reached out to other providers who are willing to provide services to the uninsured/underinsured if they already offer that service.

For EFRC, the new service added to their contract is psychiatric or certified nurse practitioner (CNP) assessment and prescription of medication to address mental illness symptoms.

For Hoffmann Counseling services, ARMHS and CTSS (children’s therapeutic support services) are being added. This is a medical assistance (MA) authorized service but the contract allows them to be paid to provide this service to uninsured/underinsured clients who meeting other eligibility criteria.

The Horizon Homes contract is new for the county client assistance program. They currently provide ARMHS for mental health adults on MA. This would allow them to provide this service to uninsured/underinsured individuals but otherwise qualify for the service.

Commissioners unanimously approved:

• An annual purchase of service agreement with South Central Community Based Initiative (SCCBI) for 2023 and 2024 services provided in Brown County, motion by Commissioner Dave Borchert, seconded by Scott Windschitl.

The agreement includes coverage for services such as case management, community support program services, community mental health therapy, flex funds, clubhouse expenses and administrative costs.

Brown County Human Service’s maximum reimbursement in 2023 and 2024 will be $492,474 with up to $46,000 for clubhouse services.

• Amending the calendar year 2022 SCCBI contract to add a $28,779.49 Brown County staffing allocation, motion by Windschitl, seconded by Tony Berg. The added allocation created a $272,578.49 2022 total staffing allocation.

Unspent 2021 funds could be used in 2022. Due to lower availability of psychiatric resources, this funding category was underspent in 2021 and 2022. The joint powers board (JPB) decided to allocate remaining grant funds to counties who overspent staffing allocations in 2021 and 2022.

Brown County Human Service Director Barb Dietz said the added money will go to the human services budget. She said the JBP is waiting for a final Department of Human Services (DHS) contract to initiative 2023 staffing allocation contracts.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@

nujournal.com).