RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin unveiled a three-year plan to close treatment gaps in Virginia’s behavioral health system on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
Governor Youngkin presented his approach at Parham Doctors Hospital, the only crisis receiving center in Henrico County. Youngkin said the state’s current system is failing to meet growing mental health needs.
“We have a crisis and the system is not equipped to deal with it,” Youngkin said. “This challenge requires much more than evolution. He calls for a revolution. It is past time for major systemic change.”
In his next budget, Youngkin is proposing a new investment of $230 million for behavioral health improvements.
Much of it is focused on getting more people into crisis day care. Youngkin said the main part of his proposal includes $20 million to fund more than 30 new mobile crisis teams to respond to 9-8-8 hotline calls. It also includes $58 million to increase the number of crisis reception centers and stabilization units.
The six-pronged plan aims to strengthen the behavioral health workforce with better wages and ease pressure on law enforcement by funding more dedicated staff.
“The average law enforcement officer spends 51 hours on a temporary restraining order, while the person in crisis is often not getting the critical mental health treatment they desperately need,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin also wants to expand school-based treatment programs. He cited the most recent Mental Health America rankings, in which Virginia fell from 21st to 48th in the nation for youth mental health.
“Our youth across Virginia remain incredibly vulnerable,” Youngkin said. “For some, the answer may be a return to violence, harming themselves or others, and nowhere has this been more evident than the recent murders in Charlottesville and Chesapeake.”
Amid renewed calls for gun control after two high-profile mass shootings in Virginia, Youngkin previously hinted at his plan to improve mental health services.
Elizabeth Hilscher, a mental health advocate who lost her daughter in the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting, said she’s glad to see Youngkin raise the issue. However, she said the state needs to do more to address gun violence.
“Very few mentally ill people ever use violence. That’s really important,” Hilscher said. “We need to talk about common sense gun laws in relation to mental health.”
On Thursday morning, Youngkin will present this plan and other budget priorities to the General Assembly, where these ideas must receive approval to become a reality.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, a Democrat who chairs the Behavioral Health Committee, said he looks forward to working with the Youngkin administration.
“We must face the moment with urgency. People’s lives are at stake. Regional crisis centres, properly funded, equipped and located, can play an important role in dealing with a crisis and taking the stress off the rest of the system. Because every Virginian should have access to the quality services they need, regardless of their zip code. This is a step in the right direction, but we must do more,” Deeds said in a statement.
The budget proposed by the Governor includes:
- $20 million to fund 30+ new mobile crisis teams, meeting our statewide goal in the first year to respond to 9-8-8 calls
- $58 million to increase the number of Crisis Reception Centers and Crisis Stabilization Units, fully funding the number of centers needed in Southwest Virginia and Hampton Roads
- $15 million to expand elementary, middle and high school-based mental health programming to dozens of new communities
- $9 million to expand telebehavioral health services to public schools and college campuses
- $20 million for hospital partnerships for alternatives to crisis emergency departments
- $9 million for in-hospital transportation and monitoring by law enforcement and other personnel
- $8 million for serious mental illness housing, creating 100 new placements for SMI patients with exceptional barriers to leaving
- $57 million for an additional 500 Priority 1 Medicaid waiver wait list spots and increased provider fees, including respite and companion services
- $15 million in opioid reduction initiatives, including a campaign to reduce fentanyl poisoning among our youth
