Mental health advocate retiring, options being weighed by supervisors

June 09--CLINTON -- With the current mental health advocate retiring, Clinton County Mental Health Coordinator Becky Eskildsen discussed options in the search for the replacement with the Clinton County Board of Supervisors.

The current mental health advocate will be retiring in August, which means the county will be looking at hiring a new mental health advocate. Currently, the county shares the mental health advocate with four other counties, including Scott County, which currently takes the lead in the process.

Supervisor Shawn Hamerlinck asked Eskildsen if there are any other options for the county to consider. He wondered if the board is "getting our money's worth" and asked if there was possibly better value in hiring their own mental health advocate or signing a 28E agreement with another county.

"We could actually hire our own court advocate in Clinton County," Eskildsen said. "We could do that but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense right now. The system we have in place works pretty well right now."

Hamerlinck agreed with Eskildsen that the process they have in place is currently working. He did state he was cautious about giving up the right for the board to have a say in the process. Vice chairman Dan Srp agreed with Hamerlinck that the county should have a say in the process, whether that is one of the Supervisors or Eskildsen.

"We would like to be involved in the conversation for that selection process," Srp said. "And we could delegate it, whether it's an individual board member or yourself."

Herald Staff Writer John Rohlf can be reached at jrohlf@clintonherald.com.

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