Advocacy Alert! – We need your help!

NAMI Ohio Call to Action – Ohio House Budget a Disaster for Mental Health

Governor DeWine’s Budget made great strides in the funding of much needed mental health services.

It is our understanding that the amended House version of the Budget Bill for FY 24-25 (HB 33) will go to the House floor early next week for vote. Much of the progress made in the Governor’s budget was eliminated in the House Budget. The increase to Residential State Supplement (RSS), funding for prevention and criminal justice services, the increase to local ADAMH Boards, and the increase for behavioral health Medicaid rates were significantly reduced. In addition, the House has reduced the request of the Governor for the expansion of beds within our state hospital system.

It is vital that your State Representative hears from you today or tomorrow! We need the voice of individuals with mental illness, their family members and those that want a quality of life for all Ohioans to speak up.

Call or Email your member of the Ohio House of Representatives today!

1. Click the RED button below
2. Enter your address in the browser window and hit submit to find your representatives
3. Click the name of your representative that pops up
4. On your representative’s webpage —> click on contact to view the representative’s phone number
5. You can also email your representative directly  by emailing

   rep(insert district number)@ohiohouse.gov

When you email or call your representative, the following are the key issues that need to be amended in the proposed HB 33

Key Issues with the ask in the amended House Budget Bill:

NAMI Ohio’s advocacy is to restore the mental health budget as introduced by Governor DeWine. Although all these key issues are important, NAMI Ohio’s number one priority is restoring the residential state supplement.

• Return to the Governor’s budget allocation amounts for the Residential State Supplement line of $24,000,000 per year. The lack of housing is at crisis level and mental health group homes have not seen an increase in funding for over 7 years. We see increased demand for group homes as more and more homes close due to inadequate funding. Many of these individuals waiting to find supportive group homes end up homeless, in our criminal justice system or worse!
• Return to the Governor’s budget allocation amount for the Prevention and Wellness line at $13,868,659 per year, and the Criminal Justice line at $30,044,829 per year. The proposed cuts will result in less housing, prevention, and criminal justice services for individuals throughout Ohio. Now is not the time to further limit access to critical services that support the well-being of individuals impacted by mental illness and substance use disorders.
• Return to the Governor’s budget allocation amount of $106,214,846 each year that supports the local continuum of care. The proposed changes in the Sub-HB 33 decrease the total line item and increase the number of earmarks in the line item. This will effectively result in a cut to allocations to local ADAMH Boards. This line item represents the largest state general revenue investment in the local continuum of mental health services. This line item allows local ADAMH Boards to fund a range of critical and necessary crisis, treatment, and recovery support services for communities throughout Ohio. We ask that you restore this line item to the as-introduced amount.
• Increase community behavioral health Medicaid rates by an additional 10%. The severe workforce shortage is resulting in increased pressure on community behavioral health services, increasing wait times, and impacting recruitment and retention of qualified individuals. This increased investment is necessary to stabilize and strengthen the behavioral health workforce.
• Restore the funding of $32 million to expand state hospital bed capacity, ensure patient and hospital staff safety, and alleviate stress placed on adjacent systems such as jails and courts

The State Budget for FY 2022/2023 moved us forward, and the as-introduced Governor’s DeWine’s budget 2024/2025 took a leap forward to just catch up to the surge in demand for services and supports. THE AMENDED HOUSE BUDGET REVERSES THESE SMALL GAINS MADE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS AND ENSURES THAT A PERSON-CENTERED COMMUNITY SYSTEM CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE BUILT.

Never in the history of this country has there been more awareness of the need to fix a broken mental health system. We cannot allow this opportunity to be lost.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Thank you for your consideration of this request and thank you for the work you do on behalf of all Ohioans. If you have any questions about this letter or about community mental health services, please feel free to contact me.

As the House finalizes the budget bill and it moves to the Senate, we will be asking you again to make your voice heard with your Senators.

Please contact me with any comments or questions. The individuals NAMI Ohio loves, cares for, and represents need our advocacy.

Sincerely,

Luke Russell, Executive Director

luke@namiohio.org