OKTIBBEHA COUNTY – A recent change in the law has Community Counseling Service anticipating triple the number of patients going through the pre-affidavit process to be committed to a mental health facility than it has previously seen in the county.
During an Oktibbeha County board of supervisors meeting on Monday, Oktibbeha County Community Counseling Administrator Whitney Cox presented an update on the work the nonprofit completed during Fiscal Year 2024.
Cox said Community Counseling has also seen 30 patients going through the pre-affidavit commitment process in the county since July 2024 – almost double the number the service used to typically see in a year, due to a recent change in the law.
“It used to be where a family went straight to the chancery court where they could file for the commitment, and then they got sent to us to do the assessment,” Cox said. “Now anyone can come to our office and fill out a preaffidavit application, and we have to assess them right there to determine – do we think they need to be recommended for the commitment process to continue, to state hospital, or do we think maybe they just need outpatient therapy? Maybe they need to go to the crisis center.”
Cox said the goal of the law is to prevent patients from sitting in jail or the state hospital that do not need to be there, and who could instead benefit from other mental health services. On that front, Cox said, the process is working.
“We’ve been able to divert a lot of people away from the state hospital, get them out of the jail cells for the jail administrators and into mental health treatment,” Cox said. “But it has been busy.”
Before the law change went into effect last July, Cox said, the nonprofit would typically serve about 16 patients per year with its pre-affidavit commitment process. Now, that number is projected to hit 60 by the end of the fiscal year.
And even more change is coming. A bill passed earlier this year, adding individuals going through drug and alcohol treatment to the list of individuals who should go through pre-affidavit assessments before being committed to recovery programs. The new law takes effect on July 1.
At the same time, Cox said, Community Counseling served 592 adults total in Fiscal Year 2024, including 5,303 therapy appointments, more than 4,000 case management services and about 1,200 psychiatric appointments.
The nonprofit also served 213 children in the county and sent 21 individuals to its crisis residential unit in West Point and 10 individuals to drug and alcohol treatment.
Community Counseling also assisted in 50 crisis calls and 27 responses, working with local law enforcement and crisis intervention officers to differentiate between legal issues and mental health calls. It also assisted 80 individuals with housing grants and started working with the newly formed youth court in the county.
With all those numbers in hand and in mind, Cox told the board the nonprofit has a problem: $77,548 in services that will not be reimbursed from 2024, whether due to insurance or Medicaid denials, or if the Department of Mental Health’s funding ran out, or if a service was provided at no cost to the individual.
Across all seven counties Community Counseling serves, Cox said, its annual budget is approximately $22.6 million. But in Oktibbeha County, that budget is closer to $2.5 million, including $1.4 million for employees’ salaries.
Currently, the county provides $45,500 to the service annually in “millage money,” Cox said, making up 1.8% of the service’s annual budget. She asked the board to consider increasing that to about 2.2% of the service’s budget, about $55,705, during its next budget cycle.
While the board did not directly address Cox’s request, they did praise Community Counseling’s efforts and thanked Cox for her role.
“I will say, we were all kind of skeptical about this new law taking effect, but with us and Community Counseling, it’s working. It’s been amazing work,” Chancery Clerk Sharon Livingston told the board.
Other requests?
Board attorney Rob Roberson also asked Cox what other support she could use, besides the financial element. Cox said one of the biggest frustrations Community Counseling faces is with the Department of Mental Health and the Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield.
“A lot of it that could be done better is not even with us,” Cox said. “It’s those that are coming out of the state hospital that aren’t being set up for success before they leave. They’re being sent to a hotel. Homeless. No income. No nothing, with a shot that will last two weeks.”
“It’s not that they don’t have any resources, it’s that they’re not using them,” Cox added. “They can get the same housing grants that we have. In fact, if they come from a state hospital, they’re sent to the top of the list. They’re prioritized.”
Roberson encouraged Cox to stay after the meeting to speak with the board further on the issue and think through how to prevent recidivism.
“If you had a good plan in place, a lot of these people could do better for longer and be stable,” Cox said.
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