The Counseling Center – Who Are We?
A Brief Snapshot FY2012

The Center, incorporated in 1963, is a private, not-for-profit comprehensive behavioral healthcare organization (the “behavioral healthcare” indicates that we work with mental and emotional illness, substance abuse issues, and the dually-diagnosed – those with both mental health and substance abuse problems). 

Our Vision:  
We are committed to improving the health status of the residents of Columbiana County by providing excellent, effective, efficient, and sufficient behavioral health care services. 

Our Mission:  
It is our mission to provide affordable, high quality, comprehensive behavioral health services to community members of all ages - children, youth, adults, and families; we accomplish this through efficient management of funds, utilization of such evidence-based practices as the Recovery Model, and the practice of continuous quality improvement.  In this way, clients and families are provided sufficient education and support to achieve increased independence and improved functioning in their homes and communities. 

We have approximately 145 employees (114 full-time equivalents), a 6.6 million dollar budget. We serve between 4,500 and 5,000 individuals each year, including 2,000 new clients.  Approximately 20% of those clients are seen for substance abuse issues.  At any given time, we serve approximately 3,200 active clients. We see people of all ages, providing individual, family and group services.  We provide 24/7 crisis intervention services for all of Columbiana County. We work with approximately 700 severely and persistently mentally ill adult clients, and 400 severely emotionally disturbed youth. Out youth services include intensive home-based, early childhood, and school-based treatments.  Increasingly, our youth providers serve younger clients; over the past two years, approximately 17-18% of Counseling Center referrals have been for youth ages 3-5.  Our youth community support providers have caseloads of approximately 35 clients each, and our therapists each have caseloads of about 150.  Annually, we subsidize the housing of approximately 100 individuals and families and assist 150 to 200 people concerning their vocational needs. 

We have three sites:  Lisbon, East Liverpool, and Salem.  We have a temporary homeless shelter called the Kendall Home, located on our main campus, which is staffed 24/7.  The Kendall Home has capacity for up to six homeless mentally ill adults, who are assisted in accessing permanent housing.  Our Hand-in-Hand House allows us to provide housing to four formerly homeless mental health clients in the community.  We own five other scattered-site apartments in the Lisbon area, as well as Apple Grove Homes, consisting of three 10-unit apartments in Lisbon.  We are in the schools and jails, serving clients.  We work with all the local social service agencies, law enforcement, and the courts.  We provide services for a number of groups serving individuals, parents, teachers, and families with support, mentoring, education, and providing an intensive outpatient program (IOP) as an alternative to inpatient treatment for a number of individuals impacted by chemical dependency. 

Our county has contracts with several hospitals to offer adult psychiatric inpatient care, including Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital, Akron General Hospital, St. Thomas Hospital, Turning Point Crisis Stabilization, and the Canton Crisis Center, as well as contracts with Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic and Trinity Hospital for adult detoxification. We also use Belmont Pines in Youngstown, and Akron Children’s Hospital for youth psychiatric care. 

Our clinical staff consists of:

• 3 psychiatrists
• 1 advanced practice nurse
• 3 nurses
• 2 psychologists
• 15 mental health therapists
• 4 Families Together therapists
• 4 AoD therapists
• 4 Parent Project providers
• 2 Early Childhood consultants
• 11 adult community support providers
• 12 youth community support providers
• 2 SAMI (substance abuse/mentally ill) community support providers
• 6 After-Hours Crisis workers and 3 Crisis workers during regular hours
• 10 employment specialists
• 5 residential workers, working at our Kendall House
• 5 counseling/psychology/social work interns, and
• 2 Payeeship staff
• 5 Residential Support and Homeless Outreach staff

The great majority of our funding comes through a contract that we have with the local Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board through which federal and state mandated and discretionary funds are provided. 

• 38% comes from the Ohio Department of Mental Health;
• 3% comes from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Administration Services;
• 31% comes from Medicaid and Title XX (indigent funding);
• 14% from local levies; and;
• 14% from client fees and local, state and federal grants.

We have a subsidized fee scale that is based on a client’s ability to pay.  The cost of services is then subsidized by the Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.

We have grants from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the Ohio Department of Mental Health, the Ohio Department of Development, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. We have local school and jail contracts and a number of local affiliation agreements.

We are certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS).  We are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). We receive an independent audit, a Medicaid audit and a Non-Medicaid services audit on an annual basis. Rules from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 apply to our funding.