McLean County has begun the search for the new head of its department which oversees the administrative and funding priorities of Behavioral Health Coordination.
Marita Landreth provided the county notice of her resignation from the director position of Behavioral Health Coordination after over two years at the helm. Previously she was a behavioral health nurse in the FUSE, or frequent user system engagement, program in the department.
"I had accepted the director position with specific professional goals in mind and have been able to achieve those goals, so I am moving forward to pursue a different avenue of professional development," Landreth said in an email to WGLT.
County Administrator Cassy Taylor said the county is now undergoing the search for her replacement.
The director of behavioral health coordination is responsible for overseeing the entire department, including its client-serving programs such as FUSE, large-scale initiatives, budgets and public engagement.
“I do expect that we may have some candidates that we’re already familiar with, but we are taking this very seriously and (conducting an) extensive competitive search,” she said.
“I do think the role has a lot of responsibility, and so we are looking for someone who has experience working with community partners, someone who can manage grants, advance some strategic initiatives that we have, and, of course, overseeing programs.”
The prospective candidate will need to act as a bridge between partners in the county, Bloomington, Normal and the Behavioral Health Coordination Council.
Taylor said current county leadership has set expectations for the position, so she does not expect it to change much with the change of directors.
“I think that we will want to continue to move forward with our commitment to our current behavioral health strategic plan, improving our access to care, our coordination with our partners and then just building on those successful outcomes,” she said.
“So obviously, a new director may have some areas of focus that they believe are important and can share that with us, but I think for the most part, we’re looking for somebody who could continue on with the successes that we’ve had and work with those existing structures that we now have in place.”
Taylor said the continuity of the county’s programs and projects surrounding behavioral health and the right candidate will be to do so. As programs and grants remain operational and fully staffed, it will be easier for the new director to pick up their responsibilities.
The county has an interim structure in place to also avoid any disruption in care.
“There’s a lot of coordination with community partners and advisory bodies with this, and so right now there is no disruption, no expected disruption, in access to any of those initiatives or services,” she said.
Taylor said the county would like to have the position filled within the next two months.
