After 25 years of devoted service, Michael Schoenhofer, Executive Director of the Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Allen, Auglaize, and Hardin Counties will retire on January 31. Mike’s footprint on the behavioral health system will always be valued and remembered. It is impossible to acknowledge all of the remarkable creativity and vision that Mike has brought to our community behavioral health services.

 

Throughout his career, Mike has brought awareness to mental health and addiction issues and treatment services in creative marketing campaigns that have reduced stigma. He led the efforts in creating the We Care Regional Crisis Center to offer local crisis services and also expanded the Crisis Center into a Crisis Stabilization Unit. Mike was instrumental in creating a continuum of care with many community partnerships for those with opioid addiction during a time when our communities were being plagued with a horrible epidemic. He helped to create a regional tragedy response team, expanded a Kids Crisis Response Team, and created a mobile one-stop program called Open Gate in all three counties. As a result, these efforts expanded the number of people served last year in the mental health and addiction treatment system to over 16,000 people in Allen, Auglaize, and Hardin counties including over 5000 children.

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In recent years, Mike’s focus has been on preventing mental illness and substance abuse through programs such as the PAX Good Behavior Game, Mental Health First Aid, and Let’s Talk. Let’s Talk has been a creative, innovative way of getting parents to talk with their children about mental health and drug use and one of Mike’s favorite programs.

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Our community members who need mental health or addiction services are receiving cutting-edge treatment due to Mike’s leadership.

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Mike has served as president of the Lima Rotary Club and president of the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities. He has served on the Governor’s Advisory Board at the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, the Social Work Advisory Board at Bluffton University, the Allen County Health Department Board, and West Central Learning Academy’s Board.

 

Before coming to the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, Mike was a foster care worker, spent six years in Zimbabwe, Africa, and taught high school freshman and sophomores in Tiffin and Toledo.

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Mike has been a mentor, friend, and colleague to us all and we will miss him more than words can express. His leadership, vision, and humor have made the Mental Health & Recovery Services Board a fantastic work environment.

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Mike plans to spend his retirement traveling, riding his tandem bicycle with his wife, camping, drawing, and gardening.

We wish you a long and wonderful retirement, and we thank you for all you have done to better our behavioral health system.