OTTUMWA, IOWA -- The Wapello County Board of Supervisors and supervisors from other Iowa counties are concerned about the state's plan to go forward with mental health reform.
Currently, counties are responsible for providing mental health services to residents residing within the county; however, Governor Branstad and some state legislatures want to change that by creating regions.
If the plan was to move forward and the regions were created, the counties would then be forced to pool their money into providing services.
Many supervisors, including ones in Wapello County, do not support that plan.
"If that were to occur, then Wapello County is going to end up not being able to provide a lot of the services that we currently provide. The one that concerns me the most is medication. We have been able to provide folks who did not have the funds for medication to keep their mental illnesses under control; and if we are not able to do that, there are going to be a lot of people affected by that in the community," said Steve Siegel, Wapello County Supervisor.
The Iowa General Assembly is set to focus on mental health reform when the session opens in January.
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