The latest budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, which passed the Iowa House of Representatives 51-41 in mid-June, specifies that County Social Services shall be split into at least two regions.

The petition granting the county’s divorce from CSS was met with elation from state Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, and Webster County Supervisor Mark Campbell.

“I’m thrilled the governor signed it,” Meyer said. “I just think it’s going to give Webster County a good chance to work out issues they have with the region and form a new region with the focus back on the people in Webster County.”

She said it’s a win for both local control and mental health services, which she believes can be delivered more efficiently in a smaller, focused area.

County Social Services is currently the largest region in the state, at 22 counties spanning northern Iowa. The next closest region in size is Central Iowa Community Services, at 11 counties.

Webster County Supervisors have consistently characterized it as unwieldy, too, with tension connecting the flashpoints dotting the relationship — even years before the tenure of most of the county’s current board. Much of the relationship’s strain boiled down to CSS’ inability to produce county-specific data to help supervisors make critical decisions with taxpayer money.

At $1.4 million annually, Webster County is the third-largest funder of the 22-county system. Black Hawk County, home to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro, is the largest.

Campbell said Webster County is already in talks with Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Wright, Humboldt and Pocahontas counties about the viability of forming their own region. Counties north of Webster — Emmet, Kossuth and Winnebago — have already indicated plans to join Northwest Iowa Care Connection, the region to the west.

If all nine of those counties left, the Black Hawk County-based CSS would be cut by 40%.

According to the county’s current 28E agreement with CSS, the county would need to give its notice by November. Campbell said plans for a new region would need to be turned in by February 2021. If that happens, Webster County could be in a region of its own by July 2021.

No counties are locked into any new agreement yet, Campbell noted — it’s just an option.

Webster County can also take $1.6 million in reserve funds with it, made portable thanks to the bill’s added language addressing a concern that previously loomed over supervisors contemplating big changes. Campbell said those funds will be needed for starting up the new region.

In the mean time, he said Webster County will be looking to other counties leaving CSS for clues on the next steps in the process.

“There’ll be lots of conversation and work to get there,” he said, thanking Meyer for her work in getting the mental health policy tacked onto a budget bill and across the finish line.

The budget bill went to the governor’s desk after Meyer’s original bill that would allow new mental health regions to be formed, introduced in February, failed to get to the floor for a vote. Meyer cited concerns from other legislators over “windshield time” with the possibility of non-contiguous regions, which gave the bill grief in the House. But as things are, she said driving long distances to get services in CSS is already a problem.

Now, regions with a population of at least 50,000 and one city of 24,000 can break away from the mold cast about a decade ago, when the legislature formed the current mental health service delivery system.

Campbell said the county would retain most of its core services and providers, including Community Health Center, UnityPoint and Webster County Public Health. He previously contended that a new region like this would allow Webster County to gain badly-needed inpatient beds, subacute care and full-access centers.