WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony Brown, Jamie Raskin and David Trone (all D-Md.) today announced more than $18.2 million in COVID-19 relief funding to increase access to mental health services and substance use disorder treatment programs across the state.
“The severe lack of affordable and accessible health care and crisis intervention services can have a devastating impact on Marylanders, and particularly on underserved communities,” the lawmakers said. “This new round of federal funding allows our state to make strides in removing systemic barriers in our public health infrastructure, while ensuring low-income and vulnerable individuals have access to comprehensive mental and behavioral health treatment services. We will continue working in Congress to secure additional resources to support individuals coping with substance use disorders and mental illness.”
The award of $18,220,797 comes from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplement Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan and is directed to the following agencies and programs:
- $5,000,000 for Volunteers of America Chesapeake, Inc., in Lanham, to support children and family trauma services
- $5,000,000 for Family Services, Inc., in Gaithersburg, to expand outpatient mental health clinics treatments for Greater Suburban Maryland
- $4,999,994 for Montgomery County to restore and strengthen community mental health centers services
- $2,420,438 for Arundel Lodge, Inc., in Edgewater, for their COVID-19 Recovery Project to bolster behavioral health programs
- $800,365 for Maryland’s Medicaid Agency to support the planning and implementation of high-quality community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use-related emergencies outside traditional hospital or healthcare settings
The lawmakers previously announced more than $55 million for the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Service services through the American Rescue Plan.
