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budget

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Lawmakers are hearing from us.

Since the governor unveiled his 2022/23 budget proposal in February, more than 3,327 individuals have contacted their local state senators and representatives urging them to address the workforce crisis affecting Pennsylvania’s human services sectors.

Now we want them to see us, too.

Our new video is airing on television in select markets and getting shared widely across social media channels. VISIT HERE to watch the TV spot.

April is a critical month for us. With budget hearings finished, the House and Senate are in session for only a few weeks before they take a break again to campaign for the May 17 primary election.

Make sure they hear from you today.

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.

And be sure to share our video on your social media pages, too.

It’s so important for us to share the story about how this workforce crisis is affecting individuals and families in need, as well as the providers and professionals who want to serve them.

To share the video, check out our Facebook and Twitter pages where we have the videos posted. Be sure to “like” it and share it with your followers. Don’t forget to tag @directcareworks and use the #DirectCarePA and #PABudget hashtags so we can ensure as many people as possible see it.

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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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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