Iowa is restructuring mental health services and seeks districting feedback

Iowa will merge mental health and substance abuse systems through a series of public comment sessions that begin Thursday to determine new local districts.

Why it matters: The legislation, passed with broad bipartisan support this year, aims to streamline services and improve patient access after years of gaps that have occasionally left hundreds of people on waiting lists .

Catch up fast: Iowa's system includes 13 Mental Health and Disability Services Regions and 19 Integrated Provided Networks , which focus largely on substance abuse and gambling problems.

• The challenge: many people need assistance from both systems, leading to duplicative and inconsistent programming, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports .

State of play: The 32 regions or networks are being reshaped into seven new Behavioral Health districts.

• Each will have a local advisory board and be required to provide a standard set of core services.

Zoom in: Nonprofit groups will be selected to perform administrative services for each district by the end of this year.

• The full transition will be completed by the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2025.

Driving the news: The boundaries for the new areas will be largely decided by Aug. 1.

• Public input will shape the districts and enhance access to services, according to an Iowa HHS press release.

What they're saying: Locally based groups like the Iowa Hospital Association and the Coalition for Family and Children's Services in Iowa registered support for the bill.

• The legislation makes sense and there is hope that the combined systems can also improve services for children because the current networks tend to focus on adults, Orchard Place CEO Anne Starr, tells Axios.

What's next: The first virtual comment session is tomorrow starting at 5:30pm.

• An in-person session is July 1 , starting at 1pm at Polk County River Place. An online feedback form is also available.