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
