VOTE FOR STRONGER, SAFER COMMUNITIES
The Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services (MHARS) Board makes our communities stronger and safer by funding programs that save lives and improve quality of life for residents of all backgrounds.
It has been 18 years since MHARS has asked voters for additional funding. Issue 12 on the ballot this November will cost residents an additional $13 a year - or $1 a month - per $100,000 of property value. Voting for the levy will allow MHARS to maintain and expand critical programs, including:
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Suicide prevention
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Counseling and treatment services for anxiety and depression among children and teens
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Mental health services for seniors
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Veterans’ programs
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Addiction recovery services for people in crisis
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Prevention of opioid, meth, and other drug overdoses
THE NEED IS REAL.
About 25% of all people each year, and 50% of all people over the course of a lifetime, will experience a significant mental health challenge.
The MHARS board served over 40,000 residents in 2023, more than six times as many as the separate mental health and addiction boards served in 2006 (6,500).
While the MHARS board’s programs have saved lives and driven down suicide and overdose death rates in recent years, compared to 20 years ago, those rates remain elevated.
Last year, 130 people died from overdoses and 57 from suicide.
Veterans make up only about 5% of the Butler County population, but account for 16% of the county’s suicide deaths last year.
