In a move to counter severe funding cuts, the Board of County Commissioners of Multnomah County took decisive action by unanimously greenlighting a budget amendment this past Thursday, infusing $2.4 million into what would have been a substantial void in behavioral health services, as reported by Multco.us on Friday. This financial maneuver arrives in the wake of CareOregon, the state's foremost Medicaid provider, discontinuing their intensive care coordination funding which had sustained the county’s ability to tend to its members with complex needs.
The shortfall was precipitated by a decision from Health Share of Oregon, guided by the altered mandates of the Oregon Health Authority, which no longer required coordinated care organizations to extend such intensive coordination services, leading to a slash in funding across Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, the budget adjustment worked to stifle the complete evaporation of more than 38 positions scheduled for January 1, 2026, though even with the board's mitigation efforts, there will still be a reduction in staff, persisting service impairments could not be entirely avoided. Jessica Jacobsen, interim Behavioral Health Deputy Director, outlined the implications for the members, "That intensive outreach and support is going away," and detailed the stark contrast members would face, receiving care coordination that would no longer be in-person or long-term, as revealed in a statement obtained by Multco.us.
Despite the budgetary band-aid, a substantial portion of the services stand to be scaled back, particularly those involving youth, adult, and jail care coordination teams, whose high-touch, in-person support has been pivotal in managing complex cases. The Board's effort did ensure the continuation of the Choice Model program, which caters to adults grappling with severe and persistent mental illness, and the state-mandated wraparound services for youth and families remain untouched. During a challenging period marked by anticipated layoffs, interim Behavioral Health Director Anthony Jordan commended the dedication and expertise of the staff and ensured that efforts were underway to relocate affected employees within the county apparatus, placing emphasis on their critical role within the community, as he told Multco.us.
As the Behavioral Health Division scrambles to devise a sustainable plan to finance the approximately 17 salvaged positions into Fiscal Year 2026-27, acknowledgment of the dire need for a substitute to the vanished CareOregon resources was candidly admitted by Jacobsen County commissioners expressed varying reactions to the decision and its ramifications; Commissioner Shannon Singleton commended the Board's prudent approach, yet Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon voiced an acute concern for public safety should these services wane, urging for potential alternatives for sustaining these roles, lest the streets face trouble, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Meghan Moyer who listed it as a dire mistake, again addressing the prevailing system failures, burdened further by legislature obliviousness, and Chair Jessica Vega Pederson recognized the gravity of the situation and the unenviable choices laid before the department, as discussed in a Multco.us article.
