Optimae completes mental health services transition

June 26--Story County's transition to using a private mental health system under Optimae LifeServices Inc. has been completed, with a majority of the employees working for the county's previous Community Life Program retaining their jobs with the new company.

The transition was sparked by the regionalization of mental health services by the Iowa Legislature in 2012, when it passed a law to move away from a county-based approach to in an effort to pool resources and create statewide standards while still allowing counties local control in who manages mental health services.

In January, the Story County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to enter contract negotiations with Optimae so the Des Moines-based company could handle the transition before the start of the 2016 fiscal year on July 1. Optimae took over the county's services on May 1.

"The transition has been going really well," said Sheena Poorman, an Optimae spokeswoman. "There haven't been any real hiccups along the way. The biggest thing is the addition of programs and restarting some of the programs that fell by the wayside."

Those programs include a jail diversion program with a dedicated staff person to reduce the incarceration of the mentally ill, which was previously managed by CLP before it was phased out about three years ago.

"He had a caseload of about 12 people within the first couple of weeks of Optimae opening their doors," said Deb Schildroth, Story County community services director. "We saw that as a good thing."

Optimae has based its Story County operations in Ames, having leased from the county the former CLP building on South Hazel Avenue.

In the transition, Optimae took over three residential treatment facilities, which it will continue to operate in Ames.

The company is offering community-based services for disabled and mentally ill residents, and has started a "Nurse in the House" program for home health services.

At its Ames headquarters, Optimae has also opened the "InZone," a program in which residents can visit during the day for free lunch and activities. Schildroth said the program was similar to a CLP kitchen that had shut down about two years ago. Like the kitchen, the new program is employing clients to prepare food, she said.

According to Poorman, about 65 percent of the county employees who worked for CLP stayed on through the transition and now work for Optimae. Schildroth said CLP had employed about 70 people, including both full- and part-time workers.

"Given the circumstances, (the transition) obviously it was difficult for the employees, it was difficult for clients because it was such a big change," Schildroth said. "Through the region and through Story County, we really tried to make available opportunities for people to talk about their concerns."

Optimae also held meet-and-greet sessions to help assure clients they would continue to receive services, Schildroth said.

Story is one of 10 counties in the Central Iowa Community Services mental health region under the state's reorganization, and was until last month one of the last counties in the state to offer its own mental health services after the 2012 regionalization.

The other counties in the region are Franklin, Hamilton, Hardin, Boone, Marshall, Jasper, Poweshiek, Madison and Warren.

Of those, Optimae also provides services in Boone, Jasper and Madison counties.

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