Polk County Creates Behavioral Health and Disability Services Department

Polk County Creates Behavioral Health and Disability Services Department

DES MOINES, Iowa – At a special public meeting on Thursday, April 14th, 2022, the Polk County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of creating a new department focusing on behavioral health and disability services in the community.

The creation of the new department will make administrative modifications to the delivery of mental health and disability services by placing them under the direction of Polk County. Services were formerly delivered by a non-profit, Polk County Health Services, Inc. As part of this process, current employees of the non-profit will become employees of Polk County.

The decision to create the new department will remove a layer of unnecessary governance that was created when the state moved to a regional model of mental health service delivery. This model was not efficient for Polk County, who operated as a stand-alone region. Polk County Board of Supervisors Robert Brownell (Dist. 1) says, “This move will create more accountability and transparency to the delivery of mental health services. It creates a clearer line of communication with providers and the state as it will now be overseen directly by the five elected members of the Polk County Board of Supervisors.”

Polk County leaders stress that current clients and service providers of Polk County Health Services Corporation will notice little, if any change in operations or delivery of services in this new administration. Board Chair Angela Connolly says of Polk County’s commitment to behavioral health and disability services, “Polk County is nationally recognized for the implementation of our crisis services and, we are excited that this allows us to return to our core mission.”

The Polk County Behavioral Health and Disability Services Department is effective and in operation immediately.