Newport County lawmakers relentless in pushing for better mental health funding in budget

We applaud the recent passage of the state’s $13.6 billion budget, which includes vital funding and investments to undertake the mental health and substance use crisis Rhode Islanders are now facing.

The budget not only provides resources to turn around an underfunded behavioral health provider system on the verge of collapse, it also promotes strategies that hold promising formulas for sustainability in years to come.

Lawmakers describe the budget as one that will change the trajectory of a worsening health and human services workforce crisis and help improve the overall behavioral health care system, replete with high-quality therapeutic services, crisis interventions and expanded mental health programs in Rhode Island schools.

Thanks to the leadership of House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggeiro, our Rhode Island legislators have shown they care deeply about our children, families and adult citizens struggling with mental illness and that they will invest in programs and services to support them on their paths to recovery.

The 2023 state budget invests $85 million over the next several years to support the DCYF, provides rate increases to stabilize the workforce of private nonprofit child and family service providers, expands needed adolescent residential services to address the backlog of children with psychiatric needs being boarded in emergency departments for days, and prevents children with serious emotional needs from being shipped out of state for treatment.

Through the diligent work of Senate Health Chairman Josh Miller, Sen. Louis DiPalma and the other Newport County legislators, a Rate Review and Rate Setting process was established for Medicaid providers. Providers like Newport Mental Health, CODAC and others have not seen rate increases in over a decade.

This gives hope that someday safety net providers will be paid the true cost to provide services. Current commercial insurance, Medicaid and Medicare rates in Rhode Island only cover 65% of the cost of outpatient healthcare services.

Rate adjustments will also enable community providers to offer similar pay scales as neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts to our behavioral health workforces. Currently, Newport Mental Health has close to 40 openings for mental health professionals despite the increasing demand for therapy escalating to historic proportions.

When new fair rates are set for Newport Mental Health and other community centers in 2024, centers will be able to draw competitive salaries to reduce some of the workforce shortages and equally as important, render more Rhode Islanders on the path to emotional wellbeing.

Rep. Deborah Ruggiero and Sen. DiPalma were the lead sponsors with the support of Reps. Lauren Carson and Terri Cortvriend, and Sens. Dawn Euer and James Seveney on a bill which led to $21 million, one-time American Rescue Plan Act funding being allocated in the budget to maintain and repair the state-owned behavioral health group homes and buildings that have fallen into disrepair across the state.

Another long overdue accomplishment was the inclusion of $1 million of funding for a feasibility study to be done by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority to erect safety barriers or netting systems on the bridges connecting the Aquidneck Island to the mainland.

What’s also exciting is our Newport legislators, led by Chairman Marvin Abbey of the House Finance Committee and DiPalma with the support of Ruggiero, Jackie Baginsky Cortvriend, Carson and others, passed budget language aligning Rhode Island perfectly with the federal government’s Safer Communities Bill signed into law by President Biden.

Billions of federal dollars are now available for a state by state roll-out of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics funded this week. The CCBHC Clinics, through Medicaid grant programs, uphold the highest quality in evidence-based behavioral health care and have experienced tremendous success in areas of the country where they have been implemented.

This state budget allocated $30 million to the Department of Behavioral Health Disabilities and Hospitals to develop the infrastructure necessary to implement the federal CCBHC program. In states where CCBHC has been already implemented, drastic drops in emergency room and inpatient admissions occurred because people received treatment earlier in their illnesses. Outpatient, and crisis services also have expanded under the CCBHC system.

A CCBHC pilot was spearheaded by Newport Mental Health and two other community health centers, Thrive and Community Care Alliance in Rhode Island. These were two-year grants that helped create 24/7 emergency crisis teams, evidence-based youth, and young adult programs along with outreach and services for veterans. URI researchers determined that the first $4 million dollar CCBHC grant in 2018 resulted in over $8 million dollars of reduced hospital and emergency department costs. 

We will now be able to access $30 to $40 million of new federal Medicaid dollars to sustain these expanded research-based practices. The simple catch for these new federal dollars to come to Rhode Island is community behavioral health providers must meet new higher standards of care.

In return, the state is required to pay providers the actual costs to provide these services. For the first time in decades a sustainable financial model for mental health and community based services is at hand.  

In short, our Newport County legislators were relentless in pushing for better mental health funding for these initiatives. A big thank you to Chairman Abney, Representatives Ruggiero, Cortvriend, Carson, Michelle McGaw, Susan Donavan and Jay Edwards, and Senators DiPalma, Euer, Seveney and Walter Felag. 

They are true champions for our citizens in need.

Jamie Lehane is president and CEO of Newport Mental Health in Middletown. Peace of Mind, which is co-written with Sandra Oxx, runs in The Daily News and online at newportri.com.