VIRGINIA, USA — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a three-year plan that he says will transform the commonwealth's behavioral health system.
The plan is called 'Right Help, Right Now" and it will be a six-pillar approach to address Virginia's behavioral health challenges, encompassing crisis care, law enforcement burden, substance use disorder support, behavioral health workforce and service delivery innovation.
In a release from the governor's office Wednesday, Youngkin says the current behavioral health system is overwhelmed and failing to meet the needs of Virginians in crisis. He called the current system an outdated model of care that relies too much on hospitals.
The governor's office plans to invest $230 million in the first year of the three-year plan, which will be proposed in Youngkin's budget amendments Thursday.
“The three-year ‘Right Help, Right Now’ vision to revolutionize our behavioral health delivery system starts with a giant leap forward offered in my amended budget. It’s crucial that we get this moving, right now,” Youngkin said. “We incorporated best-in-class models of behavioral health from across the country. This is a top priority for my administration, and we will not stop until we have a system that delivers the “Right Help, Right Now” to the people who need it most.”
Secretary of Health and Human Resources John Littel calls the plan to transform the behavioral health system a massive undertaking.
“Every Virginian needs to know who to call, who will help and where to go in a crisis, and we are working to rebuild a holistic system that does so,” Littel said. “Typically, mental health efforts in the Commonwealth only last one year and target a single area of the problem. We have a multi-year plan that takes on every facet of the system. This is the first time Virginia is doing this.”
Youngkin's plan includes a $20 million proposal to fully fund 30+ new mobile crisis teams to respond to calls to Virginia’s 9-8-8 hotline.
Also included in the Governor’s budget is:
- $20 million to fund 30+ new mobile crisis teams, meeting our statewide goal in the first year, to respond to 9-8-8 hotline calls
- $58 million to increase the number of Crisis Receiving Centers and Crisis Stabilization Units, fully funding the number of necessary centers in Southwest Virginia and Hampton Roads
- $15 million to expand the elementary, middle, and high school-based mental health program to dozens of new communities
- $9 million to expand tele-behavioral health services in public schools and on college campuses
- $20 million for partnerships with hospitals for alternatives to emergency departments for crisis
- $9 million for transportation and in-hospital monitoring by law enforcement and other personnel
- $8 million for Serious Mental Illness housing, creating 100 new placements for SMI patients with extraordinary barriers to discharge
- $57 million for 500 additional Medicaid Waiver Priority 1 Waitlist Slots and increased provider rates including respite and companion services
- $15 million in opioid abatement initiatives including a campaign to reduce fentanyl poisoning among our youth