The McHenry County Mental Health Board will be selecting an executive director soon, at a time when social service agencies are in a state of crisis through neither the fault of the Mental Health Board nor the agencies themselves.

Illinois has been in a fiscal crisis for a number of years now, and social services are suffering because of it.

The Mental Health Board, established in 1969, is a separate taxing agency that collects property taxes to pay for services for mental illness, substance abuse and the developmentally disabled. The nine-member board that runs the agency is appointed by McHenry County Board members.