Stories Related to Questions Remain On Iowa Mental Health Access Centers

Officials in Eastern Iowa counties are not waiting for direction from the state to establish access centers for individuals in need of crisis intervention — a need they say is growing in urgency as mental health treatment becomes more complex and more closely tied to substance-use disorders.But as planning moves into the new year, officials in Linn and Johnson counties say they still need further clarity from state lawmakers, particularly when it comes to funding for services within the access centers.“We’ll be set up to meet their definitions, but knowing how legislation works, we’re not going to wait and wait until they decide what an access center is,” Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers said.