On February 7th, 2023, Director Lori Criss presented an overview of budget priorities for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). Soon after, she testified in the Ohio House of Representatives Finance Committee to present executive budget recommendations. In the previous fiscal year, the largest line-item expense was Subsidies and Shared Revenue, which consisted of 44.9 percent of the budget. The second largest expense was Personnel, which added up 32.8 percent of the budget. This increase was due to the increased support of federal and General Revenue Funding to provide support for harm reduction, early intervention, treatment, and recovery supports. The overall total amount spent in FY2022 was $905,140,259, with a 10.7% change for FY2023-2024. For FY2023, federal funding represents 24.3 percent of the recommended budget. For FY2024, this funding represents 22.5 percent of the budget.
The recommended state budget this biennium includes $16 million dedicated to recruiting and retaining Forensic Evaluators that conduct court-ordered evaluations.
The recommended state budget this biennium includes $16 million dedicated to recruiting and retaining Forensic Evaluators that conduct court-ordered evaluations. This need is partially because of the growing population of Ohioans involved with the criminal justice system who suffer from mental illness. The budget also contains recommendations for $20.5 million to improve community recovery and treatment for Ohio adults living with mental illness. We previously published on budget priorities by department and the goals for the department this biennium. In addition to these priorities, there are several outcomes from the previous biennium noted in the budget.
- Mobile crisis services have been made available in 43 counties, serving well over 29,000 Ohioans, with plans to expand these services to 22 other counties.
- Mobile Response Stabilization Services (MRSS) became Medicaid charged service, which has helped over 4,500 adults and youth across the state.
- The Department of Medicaid worked closely with OhioMHAS to implement OhioRISE to support multi system needs. My colleague Tara Britton previously wrote about how this MSY support aligns with the work that we do here at Community Solutions.
- Ohio expanded the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline call center capacity. This has helped ensure that every county has coverage and calls that route through the new three-digit lifeline.
- The Multi-System Adult Project rolled out in 2021. This service aids residents who need treatment and recovery services that are involved in multiple systems of care. Examples of these systems include criminal justice, homelessness and developmental disabilities.
Funding Sources
The largest funding source in FY2022 was the General Revenue Fund (GRF). This made-up 54 percent of the budget. About 65 percent of this source was used to support six regional hospitals in the state. The second largest funding was federal grants. This amount consisted of $274.3 million of the budget in FY2022. Federal funds through OhioMHAS will be spread across the state to bolster harm reduction, treatment, recovery, early intervention and high-quality prevention.
988 Suicide and Crisis Response Funding
Previous work at Community Solutions has highlighted the funding disparity for 988. Allocations for 988 have been identified as a major priority this biennium, especially because it is an increasingly relied upon service, which is evident from the reported growth in the previous biennium. From August 2021 to August 2022, Ohio saw a 109 percent increase in the number of calls by lifeline providers, a 603 percent increase in text demand and a 201 percent increase in chat demand. 988 funding for FY2024 is recommended at $20.7 million, and this increases to $25.8 million in FY2025, with a 24.8 percent change.
Early Childhood Mental Health Counselors and Consultation
This line item was one of the programs shifted to the proposed Department of Children and Youth. The goal of this program is to increase the number of childhood mental health providers and increase the number of youths screened for mental health issues. These providers will work to improve the life skills and development of children and reduce provider stress, turnover and burnout.
Prevention and Wellness
Prevention and early identification programs make up a large portion of services to mitigate the impact of adverse behavioral health impacting Ohioans. OhioMHAS used COVID relief funding in the past to invest in a large range of suicide prevention programs in the Governor’s 2020 Suicide Prevention Plan. General Revenue Funding for this item will work to help scale strategies for private and public partnerships with local Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health (ADAMHS) boards, public health districts, community, and business partners. This funding will also increase the number of Ohioans that are credentialed to promote resiliency and reduce stigma in communities and schools. This will be targeted toward at-risk populations such as youth aged 10-24, men aged 25-29, veterans, Black Ohioans and Ohioans from Appalachia.
Continuum of Care Services
Continuum of care supports community mental health initiatives. This also includes investments in Mobile Response Stabilization Services (MRSS), Adult Wellness, and OhioStart. These programs will expand what is referred to as the Crisis Contiuum, which works to Connect, Respond, Stabilize, and Thrive.
Statewide Treatment and Prevention
This line item had an increased appropriation which would build Ohio’s transitional step-down housing and develop the State of Ohio Action for Resiliency Network (SOAR Network). The SOAR Network works to develop, evaluate and implement mental health addiction prevention, recovery and treatment. The SOAR network will also utilize the expertise of researchers and clinicians in Ohio’s academic medical centers to target core issues of mental health as well.
OhioRISE Support
This line item works to support pediatric behavioral workforce development. Within this plan is to improve infrastructure at health care facilities and expand access to pediatric behavioral health services. This includes OhioRISE psychiatric residential treatment facilities. This is aligned with our budget priority for utilizing state funding to fill in gaps of care. Below is the proposed funding for pediatric behavioral health:
Budget by Line Item
Below are the Redbook budget recommendations for the entire agency. Stay up to date with Community Solutions as we continue our coverage on the state budget, and our state budget priorities.
