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Funding

The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) awarded $4 million in grant funding for the establishment of regional recovery hubs to enhance resources for individuals in recovery and promote recovery within communities across Pennsylvania.

The funding will allow each regional recovery hub to conduct an initial needs assessment for recovery support services in their specific region, including an estimate of individuals in need of these services and an analysis of their availability and accessibility. In addition, the hubs will develop a strategic plan, partnering with local organizations, that focuses on the importance of supporting multiple pathways to and through recovery, and will seek to promote recovery services in areas including peer support, family support, and self-care.

The regional recovery hubs throughout Pennsylvania will be designed to embed, expand, and promote a Recovery-Oriented-System of Care, which is a coordinated network of community-based services and supports that is person-centered, with the ultimate goal of improving the health, wellness, and quality of life for individuals in recovery from substance use disorder.

Grants up to $500,000 each will be awarded for the 15-month period beginning July 1, 2023, through September 29, 2024, to the following organizations serving the various regions:

  • The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania (serving Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Berks, Chester, Lancaster, Delaware, and Schuylkill Counties);
  • Unity Recovery (serving Allegheny County);
  • County of Erie Office of Drug & Alcohol Abuse (serving Erie County);
  • Armstrong Indiana Clarion Drug & Alcohol Commission, Inc. (serving Beaver, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, Cambria, Washington, Westmoreland, Greene, Fayette, and Somerset, Crawford, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, Warren, Forest, Clarion, McKean, Elk, Cameron, Jefferson, and Clearfield Counties);
  • West Branch Drug & Alcohol Abuse Commission (serving Potter, Tioga, Bradford, Clinton, Lycoming, Sullivan, Centre, Union, Snyder, Montour, Columbia, and Northumberland Counties); and
  • Northbound & Co. (serving Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Lehigh, and Northumberland Counties).

Each grantee will use a hub and spoke model to provide recovery supports in their designated region. Each regional “hub” will support community-driven services that will serve as “spokes.” The hub will provide technical assistance and collaborate with a variety of community entities, sectors, and systems to enhance a recovery-supportive community and facilitate recovery support service delivery.

In addition, DDAP issued a Grant Initiative Funding Application (GIFA) for a regional recovery hub in Region 5, which includes York, Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, Cumberland, Perry, Dauphin, Lebanon, Huntington, Mifflin, Juniata, and Blair Counties.

The GIFA is available on DDAP’s website.

The sustained funding of community-based mental health services, such as community residential programs, family-based support, outpatient care, and crisis intervention, are critical to the wellbeing of our constituents and our communities. Funding levels for county mental health services have direct impacts on whether these important community and family supports will be available. Yet for too many years, state funding for mental health services has lagged far behind its needs. Counties find themselves advocating for the prevention of funds being cut instead of achieving the increases that are needed to catch up from years of underfunding.

This week’s advocacy letter, which is being sent on behalf of the Coalition, stands as an open call to the PA General Assembly and stakeholders. Governor Shapiro’s budget address called for an initial $20 million investment as a starting point to creating a sustainable funding platform for county-based mental health services. These budgeted funds, if approved by the General Assembly, would represent the first increase in county-based mental health funding in more than a decade. Now is the time for action on sustaining the funding of community-based mental health services and creating the legislation to move on the allocation of the $100 million in funding, as outlined by the Pennsylvania Behavioral Health Commission.

The Coalition is open to all new partners. Join our mission of advocacy for this 2023–24 initiative and begin engaging with your representative. The Coalition will also be developing an advocacy toolkit for members in order to come together to sustain the safety net and serve those who need it most. The reality is that the demand for service far outweighs capacity and rate structures to serve this population.

If you have additional questions or would like to join the Mental Health Safety Net Coalition, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

ODP Announcement 23-001 Update provides additional information about how the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) utilizes American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as part of the ongoing systemic recovery of services for people with an intellectual disability and autism. Also included is an Excel spreadsheet showing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Expansion and Recovery Baseline Data (CPS and Employment).

This announcement includes baseline pre-pandemic service user data for both Community Participation Support (CPS) and Supported Employment to inform provider planning efforts related to the supplemental payments. This initiative is designed to provide supplemental payments to support the recovery and service expansion in the following three areas: CPS, employment, and supports coordination. See the announcement for a description of the supplemental payment structure.