EPIC, Cape PD newest recipients of county mental health tax, board member says

Cape Girardeau County’s Mental Health Board is sending local tax dollars to two entities for the first time next year: the Cape Girardeau Police Department and EPIC, a local organization that aims to reduce risks associated with substance misuse and promote healthy attitudes and behaviors among young people.

The mental health board met in November to decide how to disperse the property tax collected for mental health. As of 2021, Cape Girardeau County was one of 11 counties in Missouri that collected such a tax. The health tax rate sits at $0.0776 per $100 assessed valuation. It collected an estimated $1.3 million in 2024.

According to board member Tim Schwent, the board approved the following allocations:

• Community Counseling Center: $834,900;
• Family Counseling Center: $85,000;
• Gibson Center for Behavioral Change: $179,000;
• Lutheran Family Services: $50,000;
• New Vision Counseling: $142,000;
• Safe House of Southeast Missouri: $89,200;
• Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office: $55,000;
• Cape Girardeau Police Department: $35,000;
• EPIC (Registered as Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition): $35,000.

Schwent said the board had not previously awarded money to the Cape Girardeau Police Department or EPIC. The contributions are the smallest of the organizations that receive the funds, at $35,000. Schwent said that even though some organizations pitched specific programs or initiatives, the funds will go to the organizations and not be specifically earmarked for the programs.

EPIC

EPIC is an acronym for Every Person Impacts Community. It was formed as a coalition in 2000 after a United Way community needs assessment determined an increase in substance abuse among youth ages 12 to 20. EPIC became a not-for-profit entity in 2006, and received a Drug Free Communities Support grant in 2010, which allowed the organization to expand its mission, “seeking policy change, increasing awareness and carrying out positive community norming campaigns,” according to director Mercedes Fort. Through grants, EPIC has established programs such as pairing youths and shelter dogs and creating photography programming.

Over time, EPIC has built mental health services for families involved in the child welfare system, Fort said. The services include therapy, supervised visitation, case management, parenting support, parent aide, parenting classes and social-emotional learning for youth.

The tax funds from the county Mental Health Board will go toward the employment of two additional part-time counselors, Fort said.

“These professionals will work with individuals, primarily children, referred by Missouri Children’s Division for services, as well as from Cape Girardeau County Treatment Court,” Fort said. The counselors will also help abuse victims, including those referred from the Safe House of Southeast Missouri and the circuit court.

In 2020, according to newspaper archives, EPIC received two grants valued at more than $1.4 million, from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Cape Girardeau Police Department

The police department has made local headlines with its co-responder unit, which consists of a clinical psychologist and a social worker to behavioral health crisis calls. The unit, led by Cpl. Will Rogers, the co-responder unit supervisor, is intended to deploy mental health professionals in calls involving mental health problems. It also aims to decrease the backlog in emergency room visits and jails, and to reduce the repeated calls for services for police officers.

A spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department said the department had not been notified of receiving the funds, and declined to offer a statement or comment regarding the Mental Health Board's tax revenue contribution.

Clinical psychologist Shannon Farris told the Southeast Missourian in October that the unit is called if a person is “triggered or uncomfortable.”

The co-responder unit can try to enroll individuals for services to get treatment.

“When we go on a call, it’s not a, ‘We’ll see you next week or months from now,’” Farris said in October. “It’s ‘We have to figure it out now’, and so it’s important to build those relationships that we can call you directly.” Farris added that most of the calls deal with some sort of substance abuse.