Brown out as executive director at OCCMHA

AUBURN HILLS – The Board of Directors of the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority has failed to renew the contract for Executive Director Jeffrey L. Brown and appointed Chief  Financial Officer Willie Brooks as the interim executive director until a replacement is found.

The board voted unanimously not to renew the contract of Brown, who has been in the post since 2006.

The decision to name Brooks as interim director and replace Brown was “mutually agreed upon by OCCMHA Board Chair Malkia Newman; Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Kovach and Brooks,” according to a press release Friday.

“After careful consideration, Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority’s Board of Directors unanimously decided to discontinue its employment contract with Mr. Brown,” said Newman.

“As the Board moves forward in its search for a new leader whose qualifications match OCCMHA’s vision for the future, we want to assure those individuals whom we serve, including people with a developmental disability, mental health illness, substance use disorder, and children with serious emotional disturbance, that they will continue to receive uninterrupted, quality services from our core provider agencies. As always, their well-being is first on our list of priorities.”

Brooks and Kovach are working closely with OCCMHA’s leadership team to ensure that the organization continues to fulfill its administrative obligations of passing on state and federal funding to its network providers and the people it serves during this time of transition.

- Special writer Jerry Wolffe