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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — MARCH 20, 2023 2 <br />2. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES <br />None <br />3. PRESENTATION ITEMS <br />A. NYFS Overview <br />Northeast Youth and Family Services (NYFS) President/CEO Angela Lewis-Dmello gave a <br />presentation regarding NYFS, including a history of the organization, locations, the NYFS <br />mission, client statistics, the state of youth mental health in Minnesota, mental health and <br />community service programs offered by NYFS, and potential plans for the future. <br />Councilmember Holden asked if they only serve people in certain communities and how they <br />were different from the other non -profits in the area. <br />Ms. Lewis-Dmello said they will serve anyone that comes to them but the majority of their clients <br />come from the municipalities around them. She stated they are the only non-profit mental health <br />agency in the 15 municipalities that they contract with. NYFS' fee schedule slides down to $5.00 <br />per session in order to reduce barriers to access. <br />Mayor Grant said the New Brighton city administrator implied at the last mayors and manager's <br />meeting that there were all kinds of organizations similar to NYFS in the area. <br />Ms. Lewis-Dmello said there is another organization that provides diversion services in St. <br />Anthony, and a number of organizations in downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis, but <br />the nearest non-profit mental health agency is in Fridley, and there are a couple of for -profit <br />organizations. <br />Councilmember Fabel asked about medical insurance reimbursement. <br />Ms. Lewis-Dmello stated they do receive third party billing through insurance for the <br />psychotherapists and a child mental health psychiatrist, but it is hard to get reimbursed for the full <br />cost, plus fringe and overhead. Individuals with a high deductible can choose to use the sliding <br />fee scale. Insurance contracts alone don't cover the costs of providing services so agencies <br />subsidize their services through grants and additional funding. She noted the accelerated <br />difficulty in the workforce with suppressed salaries in the industry. <br />Councilmember Holden asked if the building was paid for and if there was anything on the third <br />floor. <br />Ms. Lewis-Dmello said there is one vacancy on the third floor. <br />Councilmember Monson asked how they market themselves. <br />Ms. Lewis-Dmello replied that rebranded and reworked their mission and vision statements, but <br />they haven't done a lot of marketing of their services. They are working on being connected in the <br />