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Central Pa. officials paint bleak picture of unmet mental health needs, fear ‘catastrophic’ result

Patriot-News - 3/9/2023

Cumberland County officials this week described major shortages of mental health services, saying the “ripple effects” include children and families going without badly needed help, people ending up in jail and homelessness.

Services such as therapy or residential treatment often aren’t quickly available, said Annie Strite, the director of mental health services for Cumberland and Perry counties.

“So literally they sit on a waiting list for months until we can get to them,” she said.

Strite further warned county commissioners of an expected $2.5 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that ends in June, saying it will force hard decisions about cutting services.

County commissioners seemed to share her concerns, with Commissioner Jean Foschi saying, “This will be such a lack of service to so many people I think it will be catastrophic.”

The discussion came a day after Gov. Josh Shapiro released his first proposed state budget — one he said puts high priority on mental health needs. That includes more access to school counselors, increased funding for counties — which are the main providers of mental health services — and crisis intervention aimed at farmers and the agricultural community.

Still, Cumberland officials questioned whether the $20 million in new funding for counties will be enough.

Strite stressed to commissioners that Cumberland is the fastest-growing county in the state, with its population increasing by 13.3% since 2009.

However, the level of state funding for Cumberland has been the same since 2010, she said.

During a presentation during a county finance meeting, Strite was backed by heads of county departments including children and youth, the prison and public safety who detailed increases in need that have outpaced population growth, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stressed “ripple effects” of unmet mental health needs, saying failing to provide services now will lead to future costs.

Travis Shenk, the prison warden, said 48% of inmates last year were assessed as having severe mental health needs.

One of the impacts of the shortages involves their “continuity of care” following release. “They have no place to go. These individuals re-offend or they break their probation and come back to us,” he said.

Nikki McElwee, who oversees services for children and youth, cited an increase in “complex cases.” She called it a “direct correlation” of being unable to receive mental health services, crisis intervention and family services to enable children to “go home safely.”

Bob Shively, the director of public safety, said 911 calls involving mental health have risen 30% in the last 3-4 years. “Being able to provide mental health crisis response teams and being able to provide people with additional support would be more supportive, versus just talking them to jail and then kind of repeating the process,” he said.

Strite was met with agreement from county commissioners when she said the state probably needs to revamp its funding formula to account for the fact that many Pennsylvania counties, especially in the northern part of the state, are losing population, while southcentral and southeastern counties are gaining.

The $2.5 million deficit described by Strite won’t be impacted by the new state budget, which still must undergo the standard, long negotiation process before approval by state lawmakers, and which will cover the 2023-24 fiscal year.

In light of that, she has assembled a group of stakeholders to help decide how to reduce services while trying to minimize harm. She further plans to hold town hall meetings to apprise county residents of the situation, saying public awareness is needed to put pressure on elected state officials.

Foschi asked for an even more vivid picture, from sources including local police and people who work with children, to show “what it really costs the county, and the taxpayers in Cumberland County, not to have this money.”

“It’s my personal opinion that we can never let these kinds of cuts happen in terms of mental health funding, because of that negative ripple effect,” she said.

READ MORE:

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