Massachusetts Mental Health Department Cuts Outpatient Services Despite Restored Funding In Supplemental Budget

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health has announced service cuts for the fiscal year beginning July 1, even though the state Legislature recently restored funding that had been cut from the department's budget for next year, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Next fiscal year, the department will eliminate all funding for outpatient counseling for uninsured children, or $500,000. Also, 50% of the funding for outpatient counseling for uninsured adults -- $600,000 -- will be cut. The state Legislature recently passed a supplemental budget that restored $16.6 million to the Department of Mental Health; Commissioner Marylou Sudders said the restoration allowed her to "reverse many of the cuts" she first announced in November. For instance, inpatient and community beds for those with mental illnesses and programs for formerly homeless people with mental illnesses will no longer be closed. Sudders, however, said the agency is still $7 million short, necessitating more "significant cuts." The department will lay off about 165 people next month and will leave about 80 funded positions vacant. Sudders said the agency will evaluate the impact of cancelling outpatient counseling for uninsured children next year. "I'll have to rethink the decision if there are significant numbers of kids who need outpatient services and there's no way to pay for it," she said. The Telegram & Gazette reports the cuts in outpatient counseling will also impact funding for providers. For example, Community Healthlink, which provides mental health services in Worcester, will lose $150,000 of the $250,000 it receives for outpatient services for uninsured adults and children, leaving about 900 clients without counseling, according to Deborah Ekstrom, president and CEO of the organization. "We're going to have to basically ration care," she said (Hammel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 12/21).