North Iowa Reporter

After withdrawing an application to enter an 11-county mental health region two years ago, Cerro Gordo County is once again discussing filing an application to join the mental health region.

Being a part of the mental health region, called CICS, would let the county be in a smaller services group, which Cerro Gordo Supervisor Chris Watts said has better leadership than the current, larger mental health region the county is in. 

"Their leadership is awesome compared to what we got," he told Globe Gazette. 

The Board of Supervisors met to discuss the possibility of filing an application. 

"This is another step in the process but, essentially, nothing is decided," District 2 Supervisor Casey Callanan told Globe Gazette. "There are multiple steps involved and this is part of it."

If approved, the county wouldn't officially be a part of CICS until the new fiscal year starts on July 1, 2021. This would be a fair time period, Watts said, because it gives everyone time to adjust budgets. 

"Nobody wants anybody to pull out and leave the region hanging," he told Globe Gazette. "By doing this, it’ll be a good move to keep everybody happy."