Spending $100 million on mental health care remains impossible as lawmakers take a break for elections.state

The decision to include $100 million in mental health funding in this year’s state budget was a sign of support for Pennsylvania’s counties and their mental health service providers.

But these institutions are struggling to meet the demand for mental health care in the wake of the pandemic and ongoing opioid crisis, and will have to wait at least a few more months for funding.

The General Assembly left town on Wednesday for an Election Day break, but a spending plan for that money was not passed. $45.2 billion budget.

Lawmakers involved in the process of making recommendations on how to spend money say they are disappointed that their colleagues have not reached consensus on how the money should be distributed.

“Because my guess is that this should have been a priority and it definitely wasn’t,” state senator Maria Collett, D-Montgomery, said.

With several election days scheduled for November, House Democrats have accused Republican leaders of failing to address the issue.

“Unfortunately, the failure of the Republican Party to prioritize this measure has perpetuated the effects of underfunding on Pennsylvania’s chronic mental health and mental illness programs, and reaching institutions that need it. is delayed,” the House Democratic caucuses said in a statement.

House Majority Leader Kelly Benninghoff and R-Center spokesman Jason Gottesman said House Republicans are working with other caucuses and Gov. Tom Wolfe’s office to discuss the need for mental health care. He said he had evaluated the report and prepared a bill for a vote this week.

“However, due to the broad nature of the report’s recommendations, it was not possible to reach consensus on legislative details in the limited number of sessions. We will be working on this issue for months,” said Gottesman.

Legislation accompanying this summer’s budget created a behavioral health commission to meet with members of the mental health community to determine how best to use the $100 million one-time fund. .

The committee included Colette. Rep. Wendy Thomas, R-Bucks. Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehi, has been open about the mental health struggle, advocating for increased funding, and working with more than 20 stakeholders in the mental health community.

The Commission held hearings in Center County and Dauphin County and obtained testimony from providers to ascertain mental health care needs in rural and urban areas of the state.

We recommend allocating funds as follows:

• $37 million for workforce development to train and retain mental health workers.
• $23.5 million will provide care to people incarcerated or re-entering the community and create alternative entertainment programs for people with mental health and substance use disorders.
• $39 million for services such as crisis centers, mental health integration into primary health care, and social determinants of health such as housing.

Collette said the most frustrating aspect of the committee’s inaction on its recommendations is that the committee has received no feedback from lawmakers.

“With the feedback, we could have tweaked some of it, and maybe even tweaked it to have a greater impact,” Collett said.

In the meantime, the provider will maintain the status quo, Collett said.

But Karin Annerhed-Harris of Resources for Human Development, a nonprofit human services provider in Philadelphia, said the delay is likely to continue until funding for training and employment is made available to programs ready to start. I said it meant to be put on the shelf.

“We need this funding to help the most vulnerable people in our society,” said Annerhed-Harris.