Idaho panel trims behavioral health budget

BOISE — The joint budget committee unanimously approved a $104.5 million behavioral health budget Friday, which includes $60.1 million in state general fund support.

The overall budget is down 2.8 percent, or $3.03 million, compared to the current year. State funding is down 5.3 percent, or $3.36 million.

The committee expressed reservations about cutting mental health and substance abuse funding, at a time when the demand for such services is increasing. However, they expect some of the cuts to be offset by new revenue related to Medicaid expansion.

They acknowledged, though, that additional state funding may be needed next year, if those anticipated revenues don’t materialize.

For example, the committee cut $4.2 million from the mental health services budget. That included $1 million from the state’s seven community crisis centers, $1 million for contract physicians and $2.2 million for community-based services for individuals within the Department of Correction system.

“This was a little bit of a concern,” said Sen. Abby Lee, R-Fruitland. “We went ahead with this because we have an opportunity for Medicaid expansion to provide additional dollars (for services previously paid for with state funding).”

The $1 million reduction in crisis center funding was also a not-so-subtle message that local communities need to step up with some matching funds.

The crisis centers serve as temporary havens for people who are experiencing some sort of behavioral health issue. They were originally presented as alternatives to incarceration and hospitalization; the suggestion was that local communities would save money on law enforcement and indigent care costs, since fewer people would have to be locked up in jail or treated in the emergency room.

“The plan from the beginning what that the crisis centers would get their communities involved and get community support for part of their budgets,” said Rep. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee. “This ($1 million cut) encourages them down that path.”

The three newest centers — including a unique, five-county model that’s being developed in north central Idaho — would be sheltered from this cut, unless they receive Medicaid funding to offset the impact.

The proposed budget, which still has to pass the House and Senate, also includes $500,000 in state support for nine regional community recovery centers — including those in Lewiston and Moscow.

Each center would receive $55,500, which they could use to provide educational and support services for people in recovery.

Other line items in the budget include $2.96 million for a new psychiatric hospital for adolescents in Nampa, and $4.33 million to build a new nursing home at State Hospital South in Blackfoot.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.