The Centre County Task Force on Mental Health Crisis Services is moving forward with a new chairwoman now in place.
Former State College Area School District Superintendent Patricia Best was recently named chair of the task force formed last year by State College Borough and Centre County to evaluate and make recommendations for the county’s mental health services, county administrator Margaret Gray said at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
The task force was convened by the borough and county in the wake of the police shooting death of Osaze Osagie, a 29-year-old State College resident who was diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia, and the subsequent community discussions in the county.
Billie Willits was named chair of the 35-member group prior to its first meeting in September. Willits, 73, died on Nov. 20 after a long battle with cancer.
Since then, the task force’s work had slowed while a new chair was sought.
Best worked in the school district for 32 years as a teacher, guidance counselor, director of planning, research and communications, assistant superintendent and, from 1999 until her retirement in 2009, as superintendent. After her retirement, she worked with Penn State’s College of Education, developing an online master’s program in teacher leadership. She has long been involved and taken on leadership roles with numerous community organizations.
The task force’s first phase of work involves mapping of existing resources and Gray said in December that the hope was to conclude that piece by mid-January.
‘The task force was in session this morning and was, as I understand, hearing an update on the mapping, which is phase one, and then will be talking about next steps as they move forward,’ Gray said on Tuesday.
While the task force’s work may be slightly behind schedule, Gray said she believes it is still on track for a report to the borough and county this summer.
‘I think the timetable is relatively the same, however, it may extend just a little bit beyond because we’ve lost some time over the last couple of weeks due to the transition of chair,’ Gray said. ‘They’re going to try to stick to June, July for a report back to both boards.’