BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Stoddard County Commission made one new appointment and re-appointed four others to the Stoddard County Mental Health Board at their meeting Monday at the Government Building.
The board recommended the appointment of Danny Hillis for a three-year term on the board to represent the Essex area of the county, and the re-appointment of Catherine Bockhold, Amy Grobe, Nora Statler and Deneen Schweiss. Commissioner Danny Talkington made a motion to follow the recommendation of the board and it was seconded by Commissioner Carol Jarrell. It passed by a 3-0 vote, with Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis concurring.
The county Mental Health Board is made up of 12 members representing the different communities in the county.
Frances Pulliam, chair of the county Mental Health Board, said there is still one open position on the board. She said the board works toward obtaining more funding for mental health programs in the state.
The Missouri Department of Mental Health was first established as a cabinet-level state agency by the Omnibus State Government Reorganization Act, effective July 1, 1974.
State law provides three principal missions for the department: (1) the prevention of mental disorders, developmental disabilities, substance abuse, and compulsive gambling; (2) the treatment, habilitation, and rehabilitation of Missourians who have those conditions; and (3) the improvement of public understanding and attitudes about mental disorders, developmental disabilities, substance abuse, and compulsive gambling.
The DMH serves about 170,000 Missourians each year that have serious mental illnesses, developmental disabilities or substance use disorders.
Pulliam said the local board's efforts are concentrated on public understanding of mental disorders. The board each year has a booth at the Stoddard County Fair from which they distribute literature about mental illness and programs and services that are available.
In other business, Mathis asked the commissioners if the federal government shutdown had affected anyone besides employees at the Mingo Wildlife Refuge.
Talkington said between 20 and 30 employees at the US Department of Agriculture office north of Dexter were not working as a result of the shutdown.
Mathis asked if this would have a negative impact on farmers in the county.
Talkington responded, "A little bit."
He said this was a busy season for farmers, and harvesting their crops was the number one priority.
He said funding for conservation programs would not be available due to the shutdown, which would affect some farmers. He also said funds for "good farming practices" would also not be available.
Talkington reported that Brown Window, Inc. of Poplar Bluff would have the installation of new windows in the courthouse completed within the next few days. He said he visited the job site last Thursday and all but five windows had been replaced. He said the workers were to spend Friday and early this week caulking the windows and doing finish work. He said the job foreman told them everything went smoothly, and there were no problems with windows not fitting.
'I can't tell the difference in the new windows compared to the old ones," said Mathis.
Jarrell said she didn't think the public would be able to tell the difference either.
The old windows in the courthouse were installed in 1991.