Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston certainly has his critics, but there is undeniably a benefit to having a commissioner on the board who’s served across four decades.
Due to that long tenure and his other associations, Alston knows a lot of people in state government and he has some say with them.
That proved to be the case recently after Alston and his fellow eight county commissioners discovered that Guilford County had not been granted a single seat on the governing board that oversees the administration its mental health and behavioral health services. Even though Guilford County was assigned to the new management entity, the county was to have no say in the decision making.
In a shuffle meant to bring efficiencies from economies of scale, the state dissolved Guilford County’s former mental and behavioral health administrator, Sandhills Center, and subsumed the Sandhills counties under Eastpointe Human Services – and then merged that management entity with Trillium Health Resources.
That created one giant administrative entity run by a board that had no representation from Guilford County.
When the Guilford County Board of Commissioners held a work session on Thursday, Dec. 21, Alston and other commissioners were extremely disturbed to find out that the new 22-member board that oversees the large new management entity included not one single seat for Guilford County.
Guilford County had had solid representation on the Sandhills, Inc. board before the state dissolved it.
With the new entity, Guilford County was left out of the mix even though it is by far the biggest county in the group and even though it pays out $10 million each year for the administration of its behavioral health services.
Alston, who knows Governor Roy Cooper and NC Department of Health and Human Services Director Kody Kinsley, made some calls and made the county’s case.
Alston said initially Kinsley said he would see if it were possible to get Guilford County a seat on the board.
Alston said, “I told him, ‘With all due respect, we need three seats on the board – though we can settle on two.’”
Alston told the state’s Health and Human Services director that it was only fair given the size of Guilford County relative to the other counties in the group and the fact that Guilford County shells out so much money for the service.
In the end, Guilford County did get two representatives: Alston and Commissioner Carlvena Foster.
Alston said he didn’t petition for himself to serve on the board, but he found out later that he and Foster had been selected as Guilford County’s representatives.
He said that, to this day, he has no idea how the state initially made the unfathomable decision to provide Guilford County no representation whatsoever.
Hey, it’s Guilford county….the race card works every time. I can’t wait to read about the snafus these 2 will provide.
Guilford County needs mental help center for kids 12 years old and younger.
Big dog! He will bark but he will bite your ____ too
Hey Big City. Greensboro set a record this year 73. Aren’t you proud. Second day of the year.and we have the first one of 2024, I’ll bet you’re smiling all the way to Durham. You and your kind are doing Greensboro proud. Keep up the good work.
Why should the size (population) of a county matter as to the number of members on the board? Why not base it on need? How many people in each county need behavioral health treatment? Regardless, a 22-member board is too big. Each county should be responsible for submitting detailed quarterly reports to the Board in a timely fashion so that the reports can be read and assessed before Board meetings. This will save time and allow for questions and discussions about the prevailing condition of each county. How much money is each Board member paid, and where does the tax money come from?
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services offered the following comment:
“Beyond approving the size, and a few other key aspects, the Department’s authority over the LME/MCO governing boards is incredibly limited. The Department has no say in who serves on the governing board. That is determined on the local level.
NCDHHS is appreciative that the consolidated Trillium Heath Resources Board of Directors is working to become representative of the community they are serving. The Department looks forward to the collaborative work ahead as we prepare for the launch of Tailored Plans.”
My opinion still stands that a 22-member Board is too large. I doubt much gets done. The comment by NCDHHS regarding “looking forward to the launch of Tailored Plans” seems a statement made too late for January 3, 2024, since it was launched on October 1, 2023. I will ask again; how much money is paid annually to each Board member and where does the tax money come from to pay the members? The public has a right to know since it is their money paying the bills.
This man is no friend of people with BHIDD he took these two seats from people with BHIDD on the Consumer family advisory board stripping their voices from them. Tell the whole story Rhino be aware he is a bad actor.
This man is no friend of people with he took these two seats from people with BHIDD on the Consumer family advisory board stripping their voices from them. Kody must have agreed to this because has has t done anything about it and he approved this board.
Skip Alston took the voices from people with disabilities to get these seats and has no idea what he is doing on the board just creates chaos!
Guilford County should do the right thing and remove him or Carvena Foster and give the seat back to the Midstate CFAC where it belongs. My voice matters we matter people with disabilities matter!