CROSSROADS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES

Crossroads Behavioral Health provides behavioral Health Services to individuals and families in rural southern Iowa. Our current leadership and staff live and breathe our mission of being committed to the wellness of individuals, their families, and the community by providing high quality mental health and addiction services.
Did you know that in our quality improvement efforts we have uncovered the following statistics at our local levels?

- 4 of our 6 designated service counties (Adams, Adair, Taylor, and Union) make up less
than 1% of Iowa's total population yet children (under 18) on average represent over
1/5th of each county’s population. Poverty on average strikes our region (11.6%) at
roughly the same rate as the state (11.1%), however, Taylor and Union are hit harder
(each at 12.8%). Crossroads’ serves a disproportionately higher number of those who are
uninsured (42%) and receive Medicaid (50%). Our region is also home to a higher
number of veterans (average 6%) than the state (5%). Our catchment lacks access to care
due to rural disparities. All counties in our catchment are classified as HRSA MH
professional shortage areas. Taylor county has the lowest MH provider ratio at 6090:1
and Union County has the highest ratio at 420:1. For younger Iowans and veterans, MH
disparities are more severe. Iowans ages 18-44 exhibited a higher prevalence of
diagnosed depression in 2021. We serve more than 1,700 clients, 12.2% of whom have
SED and 40% of whom have SMI.

-Deteriorating Youth Mental Health with lack of access to BH services. Because youth
MH data is rarely captured in rural counties, we drew on state resources and Crossroads’
client data to depict our region’s problem. The 2021 Iowa Youth Survey revealed at least
half of students not only had suicidal thoughts within the last 12 months but had also
made a suicide plan. The 2023 State of Mental Health in America ranks Iowa 42nd in the
nation for youth with severe major depressive episode and 30th for youth with a major
depressive episode who did not receive MH services. Of the 360 youth Crossroads served
in FY2022, over 34% had serious emotional disturbance (SED).

-Increased Rates of Child Abuse and Neglect. The Kids Count Data Center indicates that
the rate per 1,000 of children confirmed to have been abused or neglected has nearly
doubled in our 4 counties from an average 11.65 to 19.80 between 2000 - 2020.

-Worsening SUD treatment admissions. State Health and Human Service data indicates
the following: In 2022, Iowa saw 470 drug overdose deaths, up from 419 in 2020, which
includes a 64% increase caused by opioids and a growing share attributed to fentanyl.
Additionally, the treatment admission rate for methamphetamines in Iowa (29%) far
exceeds neighboring states at 19% and 10% for the nation. Our catchment area’s
methamphetamine treatment admission rates hover around the state average (315
individuals per 100,000), and Union County totals over 456 individuals per 100,000

We are asking for support and donations to keep our services in the area. Funding is just not there for all the needs we have outside of what insurance will cover for individuals. State funding is lacking and our community mental health and substance use treatment industry is dying despite the uproar in mental health and substance use related challenges we are facing.

Thank you in advance for your contribution. You have no idea how much it means to us and our clients to have your support.