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THURSDAY. DECEMBER 30. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Jasper council approves
retirement plan at Dec. 20
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@piekensprogress.com
The Jasper City Council
approved a $5.5 million
budget for 2022. The budget
had been presented earlier
this year. It reflects a substan
tial increase in revenue due to
growth occurring throughout
the city.
The city’s budget in 2021
had been initially set at $4.7
million but had been
amended to reflect rapidly in
creasing additional revenue
coming from permits and
fees tied to development.
The budget, as approved
by council December 20, had
few changes from the prelim
inary one presented in No
vember by the city’s CFO
Beverly Ragland. There was
a small change in the water
department revenue but oth
erwise the budget reflected
what was previously pre
sented in meetings over the
past month.
One comment from
Ragland made in response to
a question by council mem
ber Sonny Proctor, is they
can see how things are trend
ing in 2022 and make adjust
ments at the half year mark if
needed.
Once finalized, the budget
can be found on the city’s
website, jasper-ga.us.
In other action at the
brief meeting, the council ap
proved a new benefit retire
ment plan. This would lower
the age/number of years em
ployees must have to be eli
gible for retirement.
It will allow some of their
longer serving employees to
retire and was not found to
have any significant financial
impact on operations.
budget,
meeting
Following the approval of
this ordinance, council mem
ber Kirk Raffield called it “a
great step forward.” He said
this shows the administra-
tion/council’s commitment to
the employees.
The council heard a report
from Ragland that the work
ers compensation insurance
for the next year will not in
crease. The city has seen
fewer claims over the past
three years and this has al
lowed the price of the insur
ance to hold steady.
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Georgia mental health system facing
growing demand, fewer workers
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - A three-digit
national mental health crisis
hotline due to begin service
next summer poses a mixed
blessing for Georgia.
The new 988 line is ex
pected to more than double
the number of Georgians
who will reach out for help.
But state mental health offi
cials and advocates warn a
workforce shortage will
make it hard to meet that in
creased demand.
The need for mental
health and substance abuse
services has ballooned during
the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgia’s mental health
crisis hotline has experienced
a 24% increase in calls, texts
and chats since the pandemic
began, while mental health
screenings have soared by
426%, said Judy Fitzgerald,
commissioner of the state
Department of Behavioral
Health and Developmental
Disabilities.
The state also saw a 36%
increase in drug overdose
deaths between April 2020,
when the pandemic was in its
early stages, and last April.
“People are looking for
help [with] feelings of isola
tion, fiscal and economic im
pact ... the challenges of cop
ing during the COVID
environment,” Fitzgerald told
members of the Georgia
House Rural Development
Council early this month.
Even as the state tries to
meet the increased demand
for services, the behavioral
health agency is hamstrung
by a workforce shortage.
Fitzgerald said the depart
ment has suffered a net loss
of 998 workers at the five
state mental hospitals since
January of last year, a 26%
reduction in the workforce.
Also, 10% of the system’s
community crisis beds are
“offline” on any given day
due to staffing shortages, she
said.
Fitzgerald said low pay is
largely responsible for driv
ing workers away. The residt
is more people with mental
health or substance abuse
problems crowding hospital
emergency rooms or jails,
she said.
“We are not competitive
with the private sector in our
state hospitals and commu
nity settings,” she said.
“When people are not able to
access the crisis hotline or a
hospital bed, they often end
up in places we don’t want
them to be.”
Pickens County Elections & Registration
83 Pioneer Rd., Jasper, GA 30143
Office: (706)253-8781 Fax: (706)253-8782
NOTICE REGULAR MEETING
The Pickens County Board of Elections and Regis
tration will hold a special called meeting on Tues
day, January 4th, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. in the Pickens
Room at the County Administrative Building, 1266
East Church Street, Jasper, GA 30143. The public
is invited to attend.
Stacey Godfrey, Supervisor
Pickens County Elections and Registration
The state is projecting the
new 988 hotline will draw
564,608 calls during its first
year of operation, more than
double the volume of con
tacts the state crisis hotline is
handling each year.
“This will help take some
of the burden off 911,”
Fitzgerald said. “We’re going
to have a pathway in when
someone or a relative is in
one of the most difficidt mo
ments of their life.”
The higher demand for
services that is bound to ac
company the 988 line will
come at a time Georgia is
ranked 48th in the nation in
access to mental health care.
That dismal ranking has
prompted a coalition of 14
advocacy groups to develop
a plan for improving mental
health care and substance
abuse treatment in Georgia.
Kim Jones, executive di
rector of the National Al
liance on Mental Illness’
Georgia chapter, said the plan
focuses on reaching people
suffering mental health or
substance abuse issues before
they land in a crisis unit.
“In Georgia, we have fo
cused on crisis,” she said.
“We don’t have anybody
looking at preventing people
from going into crisis.”
The coalition has released
recommendations that in
clude fully funding the 988
hotline and addressing a lack
of parity in the mental health
system, both in terms of pay
for mental health care work
ers and in the way insurance
companies cover mental ill
ness.
“Insurers are treating
physical health and mental
health differently,” said
Abdul Henderson, executive
director of Mental Health
America of Georgia.
Henderson’s organization
is calling on the state to cre
ate a position of parity coor
dinator within the Georgia
Department of Insurance.
Legislative leaders are
taking the need to beef up
mental health and substance
abuse services seriously.
Georgia House Speaker
David Ralston announced
last summer he will ask the
General Assembly to ear
mark $75 million for addi
tional law enforcement and
mental health services.
“We will attack this
through both standalone leg
islation and budget appropri
ations,” Ralston, R-Blue
Ridge, told the House Rural
Development Council. “Im
proving mental health in
Georgia will remain a top pri
ority for me as long as it
takes to get the job done.”
This story is available
through a news partnership with
Capitol Beat News Service, a
project of the Georgia Press Ed
ucational Foundation.
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