Chatham County Behavioral Health Unit Brings Home ACCG County Excellence Award
Chatham County was recently recognized with a 2025 Georgia County Excellence Award for its Behavioral Health Unit. Hosted jointly by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and Georgia Trend magazine, the awards program honors innovative and cost-effective county programs that meet the needs of citizens while enhancing their quality of life. Chatham County was one of six 2025 County Excellence Award recipients honored during ACCG’s Annual Conference at the Savannah Convention Center.
“The Georgia County Excellence Awards is an annual program that recognizes innovative spirit and ingenuity of Georgia’s counties and their leaders,” said Executive Director Dave Wills. “We are grateful to our partners at Georgia Trend for their continued efforts to acknowledge the outstanding work of our local governments.”
The Chatham County Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) is an innovative and collaborative first responder/clinician approach to addressing the county’s mental health crisis. It aims to connect the community’s most vulnerable citizens and their families to services designed to break the cycle of recidivism, criminality, mental health crisis and episodes of homelessness. Before the BHU’s implementation, nearly 92% of behavioral health-related 911 calls resulted in transport to a detention center or emergency department. Now, that figure has dropped to just 8%, with the majority of cases resolved on-site or redirected to alternative care facilities.
Learn more about this award-winning project in the upcoming June issue of GeorgiaTrend magazine.
“Here in Chatham County, we are very proud of the critical work performed by our BHU team. The BHU has removed unnecessary strain on our detention center, but more importantly, it is a major step forward in addressing the mental health needs of Chatham County, and how we serve our most vulnerable residents,” Chatham County Chairman Chester A. Ellis said. “On behalf of myself and the Board of Commissioners, we would like to thank ACCG and Georgia Trend Magazine for recognizing this program, and express our gratitude to the Behavioral Health Unit for their hard work and dedication.”
