CARLISLE, Pa. — Cumberland County officials are discussing a potential rollback of its mental health services after the county's projected budget deficit eclipsed $3.3 million.
“We’ve invested our lives and our careers into helping people, and this runs counter to that," said Annie Strite, the mental health administrator for Cumberland County.
County officials are currently meeting with its service providers to discuss ways to navigate the difficult budget deficit. Strite said they are looking for ways to roll back certain items in the mental health budget, without affecting the people they serve.
“We’re doing our best not to hurt people," said Strite. "We’re doing our best not to hurt the people we serve, as well as the providers that we contract with so that they don’t have to lay off their staff.”
Over the past 15 years, Cumberland County’s mental health services have been operating on flat or decreased state and federal funding, while the demand for services has gone up. In 2009, the county received a total of $11,037,953 in mental health funding from the state and federal government. By 2023, they received only $10,492,021.
Meanwhile, the county also spent nearly $2.3 million on top of what they got in state funding over the past three years.
“A lot of those one-time funding resources are quickly drying up," said Strite. "The need is great and we’re not able to fully address it.”
Louis Bianco works as a mental health professional and used Cumberland County’s mental health resources in his battle with bipolar disorder. He said a loss of services could put more strain on those who are going through a crisis.
“The idea that this could all go away at the same time would put us at risk of even more people in distress and in need of services," said Bianco.
The 2024-2025 Pennsylvania State Budget increased funding of county mental health resources by $20 million for the 67 counties. However, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania argues that won’t be enough to meet the demand for services.
“It’s just barely enough to keep the lights on at this point," said Lisa Schaefer, executive director of CCAP. "We have asked the state for an increase of about $250 million to really start to rebuild that system.”
As state lawmakers return to session this fall, Schaefer is urging them to take more action to help those in need.
“If we don’t make that serious investment now, we’re going to continue to see the system deteriorate and the people of Pennsylvania will suffer for it," said Schaefer.
Bianco added that now is the time for the county to come together to address the issue.
“This is a community problem, but it can also be a community-driven solution," he said.