Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | B | Behavioral Healthcare

States of despair: mental health agencies face deep cuts as state governments slash their budgets.

Article Excerpt
When the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) had their annual Commissioners Meeting in St. Louis this summer, the mood was grim. Almost every state mental health department is facing significant budget reductions in 2009--as high as 25% in some cases--and even steeper cuts could be coming over the next several years.

"We were not a happy bunch," says NASMHPD President Virginia Trotter Betts. "Everybody was looking at everybody else's strategies to try and figure out what to do."

Betts, who is the commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities, was looking for ideas, too. By summer 2010, her agency's budget will be 25% smaller. The state is dropping capacity at its regional mental health facilities by 126 beds, and other programs may be in jeopardy.

"Right now we're experiencing about a 5% cut in state mental health authority funds across the board," says NASMHPD executive director Robert Glover. "In 2010, we're expecting to see another 8% or more in cuts, and by 2011 we'll have a seen a total reduction of 21%. We're looking at massive service cuts."

A closer look at some states, as reported by affiliates of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, shows a more mixed picture and provides some hope for the future. But even with these glimmers of light, the situation couldn't happen at a worse time. The same economic forces that have decimated state budgets--joblessness, foreclosures, instability in the stock market--have created increased demand for behavioral health services just as many state agencies have been forced to scale back operations. (See sidebar, State Funding Snapshots.)

"We are starting to see increased waiting lists and reduction of services in some states," says Mohini Venkatesh, director of federal and state policy at the national council. "Facilities are laying off staff or reducing hours, and that has a direct impact on the quality of care. I've been in this industry for 35 years, and this is the worst set of economic events I've seen."

A Perfect Storm

Across the country, mental health agencies are facing immediate funding crises as their states make painful budget decisions.

Some county agencies in Pennsylvania found themselves without anticipated state funding as the governor and...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!