VA's Strained Behavioral Health System To Get $485M Boost

ARLINGTON, VA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday he was committing $485 million in federal and state funding to strengthen the state's behavioral health system.

"As you all know, behavioral health and how we can provide treatment has long been a challenge, both in Virginia and around the nation," Northam said, during a visit to the offices of the Arlington County Department of Human Services at Sequoia Plaza on Wednesday afternoon.

Northam said the COVID 19 pandemic has highlighted both the needs and the challenges facing Virginia's state-run institutions, as well as community-based treatment providers.

"Across the behavioral health spectrum from the hospitals that treat people in crisis to the community providers who work to prevent crises through access to regular mental health and substance abuse treatment, we are seeing significant strains on the systems and on the people of Virginia," he said.

The $485 million, which Northam called a "downpayment" on addressing the Virginia's behavioral health problems, will come from federal funding via the American Rescue Plan Act as well as state funds.

"We will focus on alleviating the pressure on our state mental hospitals, boosting crisis services in our communities, and providing greater support for substance abuse treatment and prevention efforts," the governor said. "Virginia's mental health hospitals have faced high census levels for a number of years and the pandemic made the situation even more difficult. The stresses of the job and the pandemic have taken a toll on our staff."

To alleviate these stresses, Northam said he will include $200 million for staffing, $45 million to continue staff bonuses, and another $154 million for salary adjustments in the upcoming budget the Virginia General Assembly will consider in 2022.

Virginia currently has the largest budget surplus its ever had — $2.6 billion — and Northam said he and the local lawmakers present at Wednesday's news conference would put it to good use to address the behavioral health crisis the state was facing.

"While we continue to work towards solutions, this funding will help support the immediate needs of our hospitals, the staff who works so hard in them, and the patients who need and deserve help and treatment state in hospitals provide a critical treatment," Northam said.

The governor also said he was committed to ensuring support for community-based services, so that patients could receive treatment near where they live.

"The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, our CSBs (Community Service Boards), and other stakeholders have been working diligently to make sure everyone who needs treatment can access that treatment," Northam said. "But the community-based system needs a boost to0, so we are also committed to more than $150 million to bolster community-based care."

Northam signed into law a bill passed by the General Assembly during its 2020 session establishing the mental health awareness response and community understanding services (Marcus) alert system. The law went into affect on March 1.

The community-based funding will help pay for dispatcher training for the Marcus alert system, as well as provide more funding for child and family services and crisis services to help prevent people from needing to be hospitalized.

Northam will also be committing $103 million to address opioid and substance abuse treatment services.

"We also know that the pandemic has taken a tragic toll on people with addictions," Northam said. "It is difficult enough to stay clean and have hope for the future in normal times. Our final 2020 data on fatal overdoses shows a 41 percent increase in deaths last year, and preliminary data from the first quarter of 2021 indicates that we'll see more overdose deaths this year than ever before."

Taken together, the governor said the funding commitments he announced Wednesday would significantly increase support for Virginia's struggling behavioral health system and put the money where it's most needed — hospitals, community-based providers, and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.

On Tuesday, representatives from the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police & Foundation, Mental Health America of Virginia, and the Virginia Municipal League held a press conference in Ashland asking Northam and the General Assembly for more funding for local mental health support services.

When asked whether the money he was committing would address the concerns raised on Tuesday in Ashland, Northam said it was a downpayment.

"This has been ongoing for years," he said. "It was exacerbated by COVID-19. We're making a commitment from the ARPA funding, but as I said, we have an upcoming budget in December that I'll propose, and then these legislators will address that in 2022. We'll continue to make this a priority. This is just a start of what we need to do."

Related:

Criminalizing Mental Illness Not Acceptable: Herndon Police Chief