The money from the American Rescue Plan Act was described by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh County, as “both large and small” because while the dollar amount is large, there is a tremendous need for mental health care across the commonwealth.
His bill, House Bill 849, will allocate $34 million to retaining workers, with grants for training, recruiting, retention strategies and student loan repayment assistance for individuals employed as mental health workers in county jails and state prisons.
The remaining $34.5 million would be directed to ensuring the stability and expansion of mental health services. Of that money, $18 million will solely be awarded to county-provider partnerships that work on crisis care patients, such as suicide prevention. The remainder would go to drug and alcohol programs.