Northwest, county leaders collaborate to form mental health board

July 15, 2022

Robert Rice joined northwest Missouri leaders Friday to celebrate a signing ceremony to form the Northwest Missouri Cooperative Mental Health Board of Trustees. (Photos by Lauren Adams/Northwest Missouri State University)

Leaders from four counties gathered Friday at Northwest Missouri State University to celebrate a multi-county agreement creating a board of local representatives with the intention of helping residents receive comprehensive mental health services.

Robert Rice, associate circuit judge of Nodaway County and chair of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Leadership Team on Mental Health and Criminal Justice, joined county commissioners and clerks representing Gentry, Holt, Nodaway and Worth counties in the J.W. Jones Student Union Boardroom on the Northwest campus for a ceremonial signing of the agreement forming the Northwest Missouri Cooperative Mental Health Board of Trustees.

“While this kind of board already exists around major population areas in Missouri, the Northwest Missouri Cooperative Mental Health Board is the first in the state to include multiple rural counties, collaborating and cooperating with each other to promote, procure and pursue funds for mental health services in northwest Missouri,” Rice, a Northwest alumnus, said.

The mission of the Board of Trustees is to promote comprehensive mental health services and enhance the quality of life for northwest Missouri residents. The Board will advocate for mental health initiatives; distribute funding to mental health providers, public facilities and not-for-profit corporations; serve as a forum for the discussion and resolution of mental health-related concerns; promote regional planning and cooperative agreements; coordinate actions among member governments concerning mental health initiatives; and identify and pursue federal, state, local and private funding to procure and expand mental health services.

County commissions in each of the represented counties will appoint their respective volunteer members to the Board for staggered three-year terms. The number of Board members from each county is based on the county’s proportion of the general population within northwest Missouri. While the Board will consist of 11 members, six will hail from Nodaway County, the most populated of the four counties; Gentry and Holt counties will have at two members each, and Worth County will have at least one Board member. The Board will include at least one Missouri-licensed physician, and at least one-third of the Board members must represent consumers of psychiatric services.

Dr. Clarence Green thanked Robert Rice and local leaders Friday for their work to address comprehensive mental health services in northwest Missouri.

The creation of the board developed from the findings of the leadership team created in 2020 to investigate how mental health issues affect local court systems and the resources available to address those issues. The findings led to the push to create the multi-county board with the purpose of addressing comprehensive mental health services in communities. Anthony Williams, a lieutenant with the University Police Department, and Monica Zeigel, Northwest’s Hope 4 All coordinator, were part of that team.  

“The work that has been done by Nodaway, Worth, Holt and Gentry counties is profound,” Northwest Interim President Dr. Clarence Green said. “I also believe it’s a model for other communities to use and to benchmark.”