Johnson County approves funding for suicide prevention lessons and peer drivers program

Two mental health items — suicide prevention and peer driver positions — were approved by the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners at their regular meeting Thursday.

In a 6-0 vote with one abstention, the board agreed to make a one time payment of $50,000 to add a suicide prevention learning module for students in Johnson County schools using EVERFI.

EVERFI is a Washington D.C. based company that creates online lessons for teachers and students. The company already provides alcohol abuse education and a mental health wellness course to students in 19 schools in the county.

Now, a suicide prevention module will be added to the mental health wellness course to teach peer-to-peer support skills.

“I have specific experience with these programs and EVERFI, and it is an excellent, excellent program. I am fully supportive of this item being passed,” Commissioner Jeff Meyers said.

Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara raised concerns that parents needed to be informed about the curriculum and give permission before the courses were taught.

Meyers said that in the school district that he used to work in, parents were notified and students could opt out of the program.

Chairman Ed Eilert said that they should respect educators and their expertise.

The board also unanimously approved adding six full-time peer driver positions to the Johnson County Mental Health Department. The transportation program has partnered with UnitedHealthcare since 2017, and Johnson County Mental Health clients are employed to help drive other clients to work and appointments.

After O’Hara brought up concerns about the ability to staff these new positions, Tanner Fortney, the director of operations at the Johnson County Mental Health Center, said employees to fill the jobs are already working through an agreement with UnitedHealthcare, but under the county’s measure would transition as Johnson County employees.

Participants have to be Johnson County Mental Health Center clients. The job is not competitive and is considered a form of skill building. He said oftentimes the drivers go on to get competitive jobs and use peer driving to help build their resume, and typically do not work full-time as peer drivers.

Fortney said that UnitedHealthcare agreed to reimburse the county for the full cost of their employment because those six drivers specifically serve UnitedHealthcare customers.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the Board of County Commissioners vote. The vote was 6-0 in favor with one abstention. It also misstated where EVERFI is based. It is based in Washington D.C.

This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:03 PM.