Two prominent Detroit social services nonpro ts to merge Southwest Solutions, Development Centers to begin operating under a new name by Oct. 1

BY SHERRI WELCH

Detroit social services agencies

Southwest Solutions and Development Centers are set to merge and begin operating under a new name by Oct. 1.

The deal, approved by the two boards in late April, will create a $55 million organization serving 24,000 people across Detroit, said Southwest Solutions CEO Sean de Four, who will lead the combined organization.

The two boards will merge into one, with equal representation from each.

The organizations’ C-suite, administrative and clinical assessment teams will be consolidated, but no job cuts are planned. Instead, employees will be redeployed within the merged organization, de Four said.

“This was a strategic merger, not driven by financial need,” but the larger scale will help ensure the combined nonprofit remains stable and able to continue serving the community, he said.

“Especially in the behavioral health space, the number of lives that you serve and your size makes a big difference for your stability and for staff recruitment and retention.”

The two organizations had worked together through multiple joint ventures providing behavioral health services for 20 years, de Four said. Development Centers has the same holistic approach to services that Southwest has, he said, noting the expanded services beyond behavioral health and workforce development the combined organization will be able to offer clients.

As it approached its 40 years of service, Development Centers took a close look at options for how best to continue meeting its mission, “as the realities of meeting the needs of our community have evolved quickly in recent years,” said Catherine Liesman, CEO of Development Centers, in an emailed statement.

By combining with Southwest Solutions “there will be more resources and know-how to continue to help children, adults and families in and around Detroit live healthier, happier lives,” said Liesman, who will retire late this year.

“We were able to find a partner that shares our long-term commitment to diverse human services, including mental health, workforce development and early childhood.”

To the combined behavioral health and workforce development, Development Center will bring early childhood education (an area Southwest exited in 2017 as part of a turnaround plan), developmental assessment and child care with 10 sites in northwest Detroit.

It’s operating on an annual budget of about $23 million with 260 employees.

Southwest Solutions will bring affordable housing and programs like foreclosure prevention, financial coaching and adult education at six sites in southwest Detroit, which are served by 230 employees on a $33 million budget.

Research shows providing those services pulls people out of poverty, improves their health and their agencies since 2020. oversight and payment for Medicaid-funded services to those companies from community mental health agencies in the state did not pass last year, de Four said. quality of life, de Four said.

Easterseals Michigan and Macomb Oakland Regional Center merged last fall.

Livonia-based Hegira Health Inc. and Lincoln Park-based Community Care Services announced their plans to merge in October 2021, and CNS Healthcare in Detroit merged with Northeast Integrated Healthcare in November 2020.

The merger of Southwest Solutions and Development Centers is the fourth among behavioral health

Proposed legislation that would have integrated behavioral health and acute care under the Medicaid insurance companies and shifted

Still, “we do expect that in the future there will be changes to the way funding is funneled and distributed. We do believe that larger organizations will be better positioned to survive whatever is coming,” he said.

Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch