VGFW, Riverstone to make merger official


The local mental health authority will sign the papers to consolidate with a neighboring agency this afternoon in Henderson.

The Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren Area Authority is merging with Riverstone Counseling and Personal Development of Halifax County, effective with the July 1 start of the fiscal year. The new agency will be the Five County Mental Health Authority.

Foster Norman, the director of the VGFW Area Authority, will lead the new agency.

“Five County Mental Health Authority remains committed to its values that people come first,” Norman said in a news release announcing the consolidation. “We will continue to serve all citizens and community partners collaboratively through a comprehensive mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse system of care.”

The agencies are merging to meet the mandate of the mental health reform program authorized by the General Assembly in 2001 and enacted by the state Department of Health and Human Services. Under the reform plan, the local mental health agencies have shifted away from delivering most services to contracting and managing service providers.

The state aims to cut the number of local mental health agencies from 38 to 20 by January 2007. Under the intended regional structure, each agency should either cover at least five counties or serve a minimum population of 200,000. The VGFW-Riverstone consolidation meets both standards, with roughly 225,000 people in five counties.

Many of the people and groups involved in the consolidation the past year say the efficiencies and economies of scale have strengthened both area programs, according to the VGFW news release. The consolidation will remove structural barriers that hamper collaboration among staffers and their partners, which should allow better service.

The administrative office will remain in Henderson at 134 S. Garnett St., where the signing ceremony will take place today at 2 p.m. The VGFW telephone number (430-1330) and fax number (430-3804) also won’t change.