Washtenaw County Administration Proposes Relocation of Community Mental Health Services
Courts and Community and Economic Development divisions, some others may also move
This week on Wednesday Feb 21, during a work session, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners were given a presentation by the deputy administrator about the relocation of some county services, like Community Mental Health [CMH], and other county divisions like courts.
Re: CMH there are currently three buildings that have mental health services/ employee offices: 110 N Fourth Ave [Annex in A2], 555 Towner in Ypsi City, and 2140 Ellsworth in Pittsfield Twp.
The proposal recommends moving employees/ services from the Annex and from Towner to a potential new building at the 2140 Ellsworth site, noting the “central location” between to two largest cities in Washtenaw County [where Ypsilanti = Ypsilanti City + Ypsilanti Twp].
Since this was a work session, no voting on the proposal took place.
At first glance, this might seem like a good idea. And maybe it is the best option. The Annex and Towner buildings have challenges for the current employees, Towner in need of renovations for example.
One question I have is: what about the accessibility for CMH clients?
The two locations in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, put services near the highest concentration of clients, many of whom do not have their own means of personal automobile transportation.
So then the question is, how do these folks get to the new proposed Ellsworth location?
Sure, they can use the AAATA buses, but the schedule for the #6 Ellsworth route has buses that run every 30 minutes. For people who are not by a #6 stop, nor either transit center in A2/Ypsi, they will end up having to use 2 and sometimes 3 different buses to get to the new Ellsworth building making an entire trip, at times, over an hour.
In full disclosure, while I do not work for the county, I do work as a medical case manager in our local health system and very frequently assist patients to enroll in CMH services as well as coordinate care with CMH providers. I’m well aware that the annex building has an awkward layout for clients/ for workers and also that the Towner location has workers doubled-up in some offices. This makes it more difficult to provide client-centered care: a central focus of the CMH services model.
One thing that is part of this plan is that if the A2 Annex location is no longer occupied by CMH, the services for people experiencing homelessness [otherwise known as the PATH team] will be relocated to a different building somewhere in Ann Arbor. This is good.
I am still left wondering how other CMH clients will be readily able to get to service providers if all services end up located at the Ellsworth site.
Could CMH team up with AAATA or a non-emergency medical transportation provider for a shuttle service similar to the PACE program [Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly]?
What do you think?
Coming soon on #eastannarbor:
350 S. Fifth Ave: History of the Former Y-Lot. A series of failed development attempts, affordable housing and the future led by the Ann Arbor Housing Commission with a vision for a mixed-income housing development right next to our primary bus transit hub.
Interesting side-note and connection with the essay above: The 110 N. Fourth Ave Annex Building is the original YMCA building from the early 20th Century:
