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Budget cuts to county mental health services could result in $3.15M in costs elsewhere

The Sentinel - 5/12/2023

May 11—In recent weeks, Annie Strite has heard the same word or something like it again and again from service providers.

"The term they use is drowning," she told the Cumberland County commissioners Wednesday. "They have so many referrals, they are drowning."

As mental health director, she was referring specifically to a conversation she had on Tuesday with Teenline staff, but the same concerns echo through the entire network of county human services.

"Now I'm getting phone calls from consumers, recipients of services," Strite said. "I'm afraid I may lose my case manager, my supportive services. I'm getting calls from staff. Am I going to have a job after July 1?"

There are many questions and few answers. With the uncertainty comes anxiety.

"There needs to be a sense of safety," Strite said. "Otherwise, people will look for other careers."

The county has been grappling for months with a potential $2.5 million deficit in its mental health system budget. The lack of sustainable state funds combined with the increased costs of providing services is already undercutting the efficiency of programs and stretching providers to their limit.

During a finance meeting Wednesday, Strite said Teenline staff are feeling overwhelmed. The steady increase in caseload is compounding the already existing shortage of trained workers.

"We don't have many employees in many of these providers," Commissioner Jean Foschi said. "When this gap [the $2.5 million] is filled, how are we going to deal with it? Are we still going to be able to deliver the services?

"It's just very worrisome," Foschi said. "I want to get a good handle on it, because we are faced with a very tough decision. We are sitting in this situation where I know we're looking at a deficit. If it's not filled, one way or another, it's going to cost more."

At a prior meeting, Foschi asked staff to provide cost estimates on the impact cuts to mental health services could have on other county departments. Chief Financial Officer Dana Best briefed the commissioners Wednesday on what she called conservative figures that show that $2.5 million in cuts could result in about $3.15 million of additional impact just in four key departments.

— Children & Youth Services: $1,336,022

— County prison: $869,802

— Juvenile probation: $763,440

— Drug & Alcohol treatment services: $177,789

Best's estimates did not include the potential effect on the 911 dispatch center, the Department of Aging & Community Services, the county court system, the public defender's office, the district attorney's office or the number of additional mental health involuntary petitions that could result from budget cuts.

Such cuts would result in less money for intervention and prevention services which, in turn, could burden those agencies involved with responding to emergency situations, Best said. That could result in more demands on local police, an increase in crime and homelessness, more calls to crisis intervention and an overflow of cases in hospital emergency rooms, she said. Best provided no cost estimates for those potential impacts.

Since early April, the county has hosted several town hall meetings to receive public input and to promote awareness of the problem. One goal has been to encourage residents to lobby state lawmakers to boost state funding to avert the budget cuts.

Commissioners have delayed any decision on potential cuts in contracts with mental health service providers. It has been the past practice with many of the contracts to submit any changes in staffing levels and programs within 60 days prior to the expiration of the contract on June 30. That 60-day grace period started on April 30.

Commissioner Gary Eichelberger suggested that county staff members work to engage the local police chiefs association to lobby state lawmakers to allocate more money for mental health services.

"It seems to me those folks are going to have influence with their municipalities and, more importantly, with the folks who vote on the [state] budget," Eichelberger said. "I would like to see us leverage the good will that comes from the law enforcement community to help us with the fight."

In early March, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a state budget that included $20 million more in mental health funding to Pennsylvania's 67 counties. County officials expected a long path of negotiations among state lawmakers whose ultimate decision could take place well after the county has to decide on program cuts and contract commitments.

Recently, Cumberland County officials sat in on a conference call arranged through the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania in which there was some hopeful news of a state budget resolution, Foschi said. However, the county can't sit around in the long-term hoping for good news and that soon the commissioners may have to act, she said.

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