Governor proposes mental health services reviews and actions with $31.7 million in new money

Governor McAuliffe’s budget proposal for 2017-18 includes $31.7 million in new funds to expand and improve treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorder services in state facilities, community services boards, and in local and regional jails as well as a comprehensive evaluation of Virginia’s behavioral health system.

The Governor also announced that he will submit legislation to the 2017 General Assembly to further enhance Virginia’s approach to behavioral health and combatting opioids. “The budget I will propose will make investments to modernize our behavioral health system and align our approach with best practices,” he said.

The new funds will pay for increased same-day access to assessment at community services boards; increased medication-assisted treatment access for people with opioid addictions; reduction of the bed census at state mental health hospitals; an evaluation of the structure of the behavioral system through the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and Virginia’s 40 CSBs; and an expansion of this year’s pilot project to improve mental health treatment in jails by funding grants to help jails identify a mental health assessment program.

Governor McAuliffe’s budget proposal will allow 25 of Virginia’s 40 community services boards to initiate same-day screening and assessment services.

“We know that same-day access to evaluations at our CSBs has proven results in getting more people to treatment more quickly,” said Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam. “Our CSBs are the primary provider of mental health and substance abuse treatment in many communities, and this additional funding will help ensure that access and services are the same no matter where in the state a person lives.”

Also included is $4.5 million (GF) for a statewide assessment, gap analysis and high-level design of the service delivery system that will incorporate the voices of the CSBs, the correctional system, and those in the General Assembly who have been working on the future state of our community-based system.

• This evaluation will also look at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as a whole, and identify resource gaps and areas where structural changes may result in improved outcomes for those served by our state facilities and CSBs.

Mental Health in Jails

$4.2 million is appropriated to the Department of Criminal Justice Services for funding and positions to support mental health screening and assessment in local and regional jails to build on previously funded efforts to address the population of individuals with mental illness in jails.

$4.0 million for grants for which criteria would be developed in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

Two positions and $200,000 in correlating administrative funds for administering the grant program.