February 5, 2026
The Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services started the new year reflecting on recent successes, acknowledging challenges facing mental health agencies amid political uncertainty, and recognizing outgoing Ravenwood Health CEO Vicki Clark.
Board Chair Steve Oluic opened the meeting with a cautionary note regarding recent upheaval surrounding federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. On Jan. 14, the Trump administration announced a rollback of roughly $2 billion in SAMHSA grants nationwide. While the decision was quickly rescinded, Oluic urged the board and representatives from local agencies to take the threat of future federal cuts seriously.
Oluic asked Executive Director Christine Lakomiak to compile a list of programs that would have faced reductions and stressed the importance of planning for potential funding shortfalls to ensure continuity of services for vulnerable populations in Geauga County. “There are things that would have been directly impacted tremendously if that had gone through,” Oluic said. “I’m glad that there was some wisdom or adult supervision with the government to review it, (but) it doesn’t mean there won’t be suggested cuts coming down, and we need to plan for that in any way we can.”
There was no advance warning, Oluic added, describing a sense of bewilderment over the sudden policy shift. “It would have dramatically impacted us. That’s the fear that’s out there,” he said.
Board Highlights Successes
In other business, Oluic highlighted the upcoming March ribbon-cutting ceremony for the county’s Transitional Living Center. Lakomiak followed with her report, outlining recent partnerships between the board and county agencies. Those efforts include promoting the 988 crisis line in local schools through grant funding, facilitating Crisis Intervention Team training for first responders and Geauga County Court of Common Pleas staff, and establishing a memorandum of understanding with the Geauga County Board of Health to create a coordinated disaster response plan.
Lakomiak also summarized the board’s community assessment plan, which fulfills a statutory requirement to the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health. The plan evaluates the county’s current behavioral health landscape and identifies priorities moving forward.
In her summary, Lakomiak emphasized the board’s “strategic plan focusing a lot on suicide prevention and resiliency in vulnerable populations, such as men affected by suicide, seniors 60 and older, outreach to that group, as well.” She discussed coordination efforts among hospitals and jails to help individuals transition to outpatient care, as well as inter-agency initiatives related to jail-based competency restoration.
Lakomiak said they are trying to address shortages in beds available in state hospitals and seeing if there is a way to restore people while in the jails rather than make them wait in jails for three months or longer for a bed at the state hospital.
“(We’re addressing) what can be done in jails locally to ease that transition and not make people wait for a place in a state hospital, and working with Ravenwood Health” to coordinate services, she said.
Lakomiak also cited collaboration with area agencies to promote “suicide awareness, 988 (crisis hotline) awareness, medication-assisted treatment, jail-based services for high-risk individuals, harm reduction, naloxone-access and associated training, and continuing to work with child and family services.”
Oluic made a motion to acknowledge the community assessment plan and reflected on the board’s progress. “We’ve made so many incremental improvements over the last several years, and a lot of them were not noticeable immediately,” Oluic said. “But, as we sum up all the things that we’ve done, the way ahead and the way we’re going with the staff under the executive director’s leadership, we’re really making some significant improvements in the county. That’s not an understatement.” He added, “We have a good 2026 ahead of us and this is good work.”
During public comments, Clark addressed the board at what she said would be her final meeting in the role of Ravenwood Health CEO. “This is my last board meeting as CEO, (although) maybe I’ll see you again under some other capacity,” Clark said. “I couldn’t have worked in a better community. From the moment I got to Ravenwood, I felt like I was home, and this is where I belong, and part of that was working with all the other agencies. I will always cherish that I got to work in this community. It cares. Every single agency I come in contact with presents that way, and I want to thank you for that.”
Clark praised board members for their organizational skills and empathy. “This board has always come back to the mission and stayed focused on that. I think you’re on a beautiful trajectory right now,” Clark said. “I’ve been blessed to do this for a living, but you’re all volunteers and I am in awe of that. You don’t have to do that, you choose to do that. If you really start looking at the things that have been happening these last few years, you just have to say, ‘Wow!’
