Counties Greatly Disappointed as Mental Health is Again an Afterthought in Budget
News Date: Thursday, July 11, 2024
It will once again be up to Pennsylvania counties to continue providing critical mental health services with inadequate funding.
Pennsylvania counties are relieved that the state was able to deliver a budget before critical county programs and services were put at risk. However, it is greatly disappointing that the community-based mental health system was once again an afterthought in the state budget.
The $20 million increase for the FY 2024-2025 will not help expand services, stabilize the workforce, decrease patient wait times or provide any realistic path to rebuilding a system that is crumbling before our very eyes.
Counties believed the $20 million increase that was provided in the 2023-2024 budget was a down payment and an act of good faith that the legislature and administration were ready to start making serious investments into the community-based mental health system.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
For years, counties have been struggling to maintain services such as outpatient treatment for adults and children, crisis intervention and support for individuals leaving state facilities.
Demand for mental health services continue to skyrocket while the funding for those services maintains a slow crawl. Given the severity of the situation, Pennsylvania counties were hopeful that this would be the time for the state to get serious about investing in the mental health services so many members of our communities depend on. However, it will once again be up to Pennsylvania counties to continue providing these critical services with inadequate funding.
The $20 million increase for the FY 2024-2025 will not help expand services, stabilize the workforce, decrease patient wait times or provide any realistic path to rebuilding a system that is crumbling before our very eyes.
Counties believed the $20 million increase that was provided in the 2023-2024 budget was a down payment and an act of good faith that the legislature and administration were ready to start making serious investments into the community-based mental health system.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
For years, counties have been struggling to maintain services such as outpatient treatment for adults and children, crisis intervention and support for individuals leaving state facilities.
Demand for mental health services continue to skyrocket while the funding for those services maintains a slow crawl. Given the severity of the situation, Pennsylvania counties were hopeful that this would be the time for the state to get serious about investing in the mental health services so many members of our communities depend on. However, it will once again be up to Pennsylvania counties to continue providing these critical services with inadequate funding.