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budget

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With this week’s signing of the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) expects its budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 to be at least equal to the current year’s budget of $378 million. Before the signing of the act, DDAP’s budget was $317 million. The difference was the result of a $60 million gap in a state opioid response (SOR) grant that has been restored. The majority of DDAP’s funding comes from the federal government, as opposed to state dollars.

As part of the Federal Appropriations Act, $3.9 billion has been budgeted for substance use treatment, including continued funding for opioid prevention and treatment, recovery, and tribal focused treatment efforts. This includes $1.85 billion for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG); $1.525 billion for SOR Grants; $34.9 million for Pregnant & Postpartum Women; $13 million for Building Communities of Recovery; and $101 million for Medication Assisted Treatment.

In its Senate Appropriations Hearing yesterday, DDAP said that, although the exact amount of Pennsylvania’s SOR grant for FY 2023 was not yet know, it expected it to be at least as much as the current year’s grant, which is $178 million.

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The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet for a budget hearing with the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) at 2:30 pm today, March 16. The budget hearing will be livestreamed. Please note that RCPA provider members received an email from RCPA earlier this week that incorrectly stated the hearing was at 10:00 am today.

For Fiscal Year 2022/2023, the governor is budgeting a total of $317 million for DDAP, which is a 16 percent reduction over the current fiscal year’s budget of $379 million. The decrease is due to a $60 million reduction in federal State Opioid Response dollars.

More details of DDAP’s budget are available in DDAP’s Bluebook. In addition, a previous communication from RCPA about DDAP’s budget ahead of its House Appropriations Committee provides additional detail about the $317 million budget.

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The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet for a budget hearing with the Department of Human Services (DHS) at 10:00 am on Tuesday, March 8. The budget hearing will be livestreamed. Then, at 10:00 am Wednesday, March 9, the House Appropriations Committee will hold its hearing with DHS. That hearing will also be livestreamed.

DHS is budgeting more than $6 billion in capitation to pay for behavioral health services in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022/2023. Based on the current fiscal year’s spending, approximately 22 percent, or $1.6 billion, is budgeted to be spent for drug and alcohol, including administration fees paid to behavioral health managed care organizations, according to DHS. The $6 billion is an increase of 11 percent over the $5.4 billion budgeted for FY 2022.

The details of the budget are available in DHS’ 2022/2023 Executive Budget.

The $6 billion behavioral health budget (p. 105 of 399 in the Executive Budget) is comprised of:

The FY 2022/2023 budget also includes $57 million in state dollars for the Behavioral Health Services Initiative (BHSI). BHSI includes state funds to provide treatment services to Pennsylvanians who are uninsured, do not have insurance that covers the service they need, or cannot obtain Medical Assistance benefits. Single County Authorities distribute those dollars per the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol’s Fiscal Manual, according to DHS.

The DHS Executive Budget also breaks out an $80 million line item in both FY 2021/2022 and FY 2022/2023 for the American Society of Addiction Medicine transition (See p. 101 of 399). This $80 million, $16 million of which is state dollars, is included in $6 billion behavioral health capitation budget.

RCPA will continue to update the membership on the budget as it moves toward passage in the coming months.

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In the last month, more than 2,500 residents have contacted the administration and their local state senators and representatives urging them to address the workforce crisis affecting Pennsylvania’s human services sectors.

The outreach has been extraordinary! But we can’t stop now.

The House and Senate will be wrapping up their annual budget hearings over the next few days and turning their attention to crafting the commonwealth’s final spending plan before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

If you haven’t done so already, please reach out and urge lawmakers to increase funding to support human services professionals so individuals and families in need get the support and care they deserve. Ask your networks to do the same.

Pennsylvania is sitting on billions of federal dollars and state “rainy day” funds that could increase wages to help us attract and retain human service professionals. Yet, even as this workforce crisis worsens, the money remains unspent as the needs of our most vulnerable residents go unmet.

The outpouring of support so far is evidence of how this crisis is affecting individuals and families, as well as the providers and professionals who want to serve them.

But we need to do more…and we need to sustain the effort.

Please VISIT HERE to learn how you can help. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay informed of our progress. Most importantly, TAKE ACTION TODAY. Tell lawmakers to increase funding to address the workforce crisis facing Pennsylvania’s health and human services.

Thank you for your continued support.

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The House Appropriations Committee will meet for a budget hearing with the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) at 10:00 am on Thursday, March 3. The budget hearing will be livestreamed.

For Fiscal Year 2022/23, the governor is budgeting a total of $317 million for DDAP, which is a 16 percent reduction over the current fiscal year’s budget of $379 million. The decrease is due to a $60 million reduction in federal State Opioid Response dollars.

Of the total amount budgeted from the General Fund for the upcoming fiscal year, $270 million is budgeted for grants and subsidies to drug and alcohol programs. Of those funds, 75 percent ($220 million) comes from federal grants, including:

  • SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) ($80 million);
  • State Opioid Response (SOR) Grant ($118 million); and
  • Substance Abuse Special Projects Grants ($22 million).

The remaining $50 million earmarked for drug and alcohol programs in the General Fund come from the McKinsey opioid settlement ($5 million) and $45 million in state funding.

Other funds in DDAP’s budget include the Compulsive and Problem Gambling Treatment Fund ($13 million), the Medical Marijuana Program Fund ($6 million), and the State Stores Fund ($5 million).

DDAP’s budget also includes $23 million ($3 million of which is state money) earmarked for operation and administration of the department and its various grant programs. The federal grants allow for a percentage of the funds to be used for operations and administration. Operations and administration also includes the department’s complement, or staffing, and their salaries.

While most of the SABG and state funding earmarked for drug and alcohol programs are distributed through the Single County Authorities, SOR and other special grant projects are delivered typically through a grant process. Details of initiatives that these grants have funded can be found on DDAP’s Department Funding web page.

As the regulator of the state’s addiction treatment system, DDAP’s funding of drug and alcohol programs pales in comparison to the Department of Human Services’ budget for drug and alcohol services. The governor has budgeted $6 billion for behavioral health services for Medicaid capitation rates, $1.6 billion of which is earmarked for drug and alcohol.

More details of DDAP’s budget are available in DDAP’s Bluebook.

DDAP’s Senate Appropriations Hearing is set for 2:30 pm, Wednesday, March 16.

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