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Pa. governor’s budget would boost mental health care for students, add services for seniors

Patriot-News - 3/7/2023

At a glance: Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first proposed state budget will bolster mental health care, including new funding aimed at groups including school students, people at risk of going to jail and farmers. It also would shorten waiting lists for in-home services for seniors and services for people with intellectual disabilities including autism, and help health care providers including nursing homes address worker shortages.

What it means: The new spending would include $500,000 million to provide more mental health care for school students and staff; nearly $18 million toward reducing the waiting list for community-based services for people with intellectual disabilities; $10 million toward reducing the waiting list for in-home services for seniors; and about $2 million to help nursing homes bolster their staffs. A new initiative would spend $200,000 on services including a mental health hotline for farmers and others in the agriculture industry, along with a mental health outreach effort aimed at the agricultural community. Funding for county-run mental health services would increase by $20 million, with the budget also proposing to increase the amount annually, with the annual increase totaling $60 million in 2027-2028. The budget would spend $24.7 million to retain people in various fields were workers are in short supply, with some healthcare positions eligible for a refundable tax credit of up to $2,500 per year for three years.

More: What’s in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2023 Pa. budget plan for you?

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