As the state stares down a deficit like it hasn’t ever seen before, it will also have to wrestle with rising costs associated with mental health services.
Some advocates and lawmakers are calling for more than $38 billion spending, and are asking for the federal government to kick in support.
The argument has been that the Coronavirus Pandemic will create a mental health crisis, which could last beyond the public health emergency of the moment.
This issue has been discussed before, and recent studies by the CDC have highlighted a need for more funding to support services in the mental health space.
“Isolation and despair are really the enemies of treatment for depression and substance use disorder,” said Sen. Peter Harckham to Spectrum News. “We need to reconnect people and that’s becoming harder and harder as our society has been closed down.”
The problem is that the state isn’t only trying to bolster something, but fix a system that’s been largely broken for years. And questions remains whether the funds are, or will be available.
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