Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Expands Community Prevention

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SAMHSA recently presented its Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Congressional Justification, which outlines a budget request totaling $3.7 billion.

A net increase of $110 million over FY 2010, the FY 2011 budget includes $1 billion, an increase of $23 million, for the prevention and treatment of mental illness; and $2.5 billion, an increase of $55 million, for substance abuse prevention and treatment.

“Under this budget, we will provide more prevention, treatment, and recovery support services,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. “We are collaborating with other HHS agencies and with ONDCP to strengthen our public health infrastructure.”

The budget is a big step forward for SAMHSA’s work to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Funding increases are slated to expand treatment opportunities, support efforts to decrease overall health care costs by effective use of screening for alcohol use and other potentially addictive behaviors, keep young children healthy, and prevent suicide.

Program Increases

SAMHSA’s Congressional Justification expands several promising programs:

Access to Recovery. The budget includes $109 million, an increase of $10 million over FY 2010, to support states and tribes in providing a choice of treatment opportunities for individuals with substance use disorders. The additional funding will support up to 4 new grants.

More than 80 percent of clients receiving services through this program abstained from substance use in FY 2009.

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. Early identification and interventions can decrease total health care costs by impeding progression to addiction.

The budget provides $37 million, an increase of $8 million, for substance abuse and mental health screening and interventions within general medical and primary care settings.

This funding level supports a pilot project to better equip primary health care physicians and other health care providers to screen for, diagnose, and treat a broad range of substance abuse disorders.

Project LAUNCH. The budget includes $37 million for Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health), an increase of $12 million for new grants to enable communities to conduct evidence-based prevention and wellness interventions focused on children.

Suicide Prevention. The budget dedicates $54 million, an increase of $6 million, to prevent suicide. The budget continues to invest in activities authorized by the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. These activities support intervention and prevention strategies in schools, institutions of higher education, juvenile justice systems, and other youth support organizations.

The budget increases the capacity of the national hotline, which routes calls across the country to a network of certified local crisis centers. Each center can link callers to local emergency, mental health, and social service resources.

Criminal Justice. The budget includes $56 million to expand the treatment capacity of drug courts, an increase of $13 million. Drug courts use close supervision, drug testing, sanctions, and incentives to ensure adherence to treatment plans to help break the cycle of drug abuse.

States and localities are increasing the use of drug courts to facilitate recovery and reduce recidivism effectively.

Children’s Mental Health Services. The budget provides $126 million, an increase of $5 million, for grants to states and localities to support the development of comprehensive, community-based, age-appropriate systems of care for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances.

Program Management and Performance Measures. The budget includes $136 million, an increase of $34 million, for the administration of SAMHSA programs and the support of national data collection efforts. The majority of this increase will support data collection and analysis, including increased costs associated with ongoing efforts as well as enhancing data collection on drug-related emergency room visits.