Hey Washoe County! We had our 6th session for the Washoe County Leadership Academy (WCLA). The WCLA is a 9-month program for community leaders to learn anything and everything about Washoe County. We meet once a month for a full day of classroom leadership training and field trips all throughout the county. An integral part of the WCLA is a class project where we are tasked with coming up with a solution to review an issue within the county.
The Heart of the County Planning Session
Our February session was titled “Heart of the County.” Clever planning for Valentine’s Day. In this session, we learned about the services available for our vulnerable populations in the county. In the media, we hear a lot about what the county is or isn’t doing for our elders, the unhoused population, and our community members dealing with mental health issues. From the very beginning of the WCLA, I have learned something new each session. This session was no different.
We started the day with hearing from a panel of County Behavioral Health professionals. The Washoe County Human Services Agency (WCHSA) provides a hefty number of services, from childcare services and foster care and adoptions and senior center services to overseeing the Nevada Cares Campus. Did you know that Clark and Washoe Counties oversee child welfare services at the local level, but the State of Nevada handles child welfare services for the rest of the state?
This is a prime example of the complexity of Washoe County and its unique relationship with the state and the other local jurisdictions. The goal of the WCHSA is to keep kids home and use removal as a last resort. From FY2021 to FY2025, WCHSA saw a 35% decrease in child removals and a 42% decrease in reunifications (decrease due to decrease in removals).
For our elders, the WCHSA provides many services. They provide Senior Centers throughout the county, nutritious meal services (in-person and delivered), legal services, and case management (to name a few). The WCHSA meal program supplies daily, well-balanced meals to the county’s elders.
Despite what may be said about the quality of the meals, they are prepared in accordance with established guidelines and food safety standards. In a previous session, we got to tour the Senior Center at the Washoe County Complex on 9th Street. The kitchen facilities were clean and well-kept, and the staff was committed to serving quality meals for our elders.
In the behavioral health discussion, we learned about the Renown Crisis Center (we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility during our visit to the Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services Campus and the new Washoe Children’s Behavioral Health Center, planned for a late 2027 opening). It was here we talked about “moving from silos to systems.” Washoe County is working to create an environment to address behavioral health concerns with care versus diverting individuals with behavioral health concerns into the justice system.
The county uses the Sequential Intercept Model to accomplish this goal of care for our community members with mental health concerns. This model has several steps with intervention before incarceration is an option. The first step is for the county to identify and assess community members who have behavioral health needs with or at-risk of justice involvement. For this model to be successful, it includes the City of Sparks, Reno, and community partners throughout the county.
From our very first session back in September, I quickly learned how the entire county operates in silos. The multiple jurisdictions within the county can make it difficult to coordinate efforts. The Washoe County Commission does not have jurisdiction over the entire county.
There is the City of Reno and City of Sparks Councils, Washoe County School District Board of Trustees, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. It is great to see the county is moving from silos to systems. If elected to serve as your Washoe County Commissioner, I will continue this movement to ensure better communication and coordination with all jurisdictions.
Under the umbrella of WCHSA is the CrossRoads program. We were fortunate enough to get a tour of the Men’s CrossRoads facility. The Men’s CrossRoads is a program that provides a tiered/modified housing first approach for men who are generally without a permanent place to stay and may be suffering from a substance use disorder. We were met with a warm welcome from CrossRoads staff and program participants.
We got to hear directly from the program participants about how it has changed their lives. All the participants we spoke with welcomed us into their homes. It can feel intrusive to do these types of visits because we are in their living space, but everyone was so welcoming and wanted to talk to us about the significance of the program.
No matter what the issue is – our unhoused population or community members facing mental health concerns – at the end of the day, these are real people who deserve compassion. They are someone’s son or daughter. They are all members of our community. I am running on not wanting any of our communities or community to be forgotten about or an afterthought.