Careful Stewardship in All Board Support for Community Services

The Commissions of Clay, Platte and Ray counties screen volunteer residents of their respective county who have been nominated to the Mental Health Board of Trustees.

If approved, the individuals are appointed as members of the Board. All members are unpaid volunteers from diverse backgrounds, which include business and finance, law, accounting, social services and medicine.

When a service agency applies for financial assistance from the Board, it undergoes rigorous examination. This background check includes analysis of each organization's certified financial statements and their proposed use of any funding. These examinations ensure compliance with the mental health purposes of the Levy.

Agency examinations also research evidence of prior and proposed stewardship of financial resources by each agency, and even more scrutiny may be required as appropriate. All agencies are also reviewed by performance audit, the Community Network for Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. (CommCare) and are certified by the state of Missouri.

This procedure applies to first-time requests, as well as to recurring requests by agencies. In addition, independent annual performance and compliance audits are performed by an independent agency contracted by the Board.

The overreaching goal of the Board of Trustees regarding funds from the three counties is to ensure solid stewardship of the people's tax receipts. Additionally, the Board diligently maintains transparency in all transactions and relationships, and exercises all due diligence in performance of its duties and commitments to the taxpayers of Ray, Platte and Clay counties, whom the Board is honored to represent.