COLUMBUS, Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine laid out a sweeping plan Wednesday that would ramp up Ohio’s mental-health services by putting millions toward expanded services, research, and job development.
The proposal, which DeWine said would be presented to lawmakers next year as part of his state budget plan, will include building a new behavioral-health research hub in the state, conducting a “landmark study” of the root causes of mental illness and addiction, and ensuring that Ohioans can get a full range of mental-health services in their area.
The governor also renewed his proposal made earlier this year to use $85 million in federal coronavirus aid for paid internships and residencies for aspiring mental-health workers. That plan has been on ice for months.
DeWine didn’t say Wednesday how much funding he would dedicate in total to mental health priorities when he submits his budget proposal to state lawmakers.
“Every day in Ohio, we have families in crisis. They need immediate help. And too often, though, they have nowhere to turn, no idea where to go. So, their loved ones suffer. Families suffer,” DeWine said during a health-care summit held by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in downtown Columbus. “We must – we must – change this. We must now make behavioral health visible, accessible, and effective in all communities in Ohio.”
For example, DeWine said, when an Ohioan being treated for mental-health issues is released from a hospital, the state should help that person get community care or, at least, regularly scheduled counseling sessions.
DeWine, a Greene County Republican, said his plan seeks to help remedy the “unfinished business” from decades ago, when President John F. Kennedy signed legislation to release thousands of people from psychiatric hospitals. Kennedy’s plan was to replace custodial care with community services, DeWine said, but that half of the plan has “tragically” never been followed through on, either in Ohio or nationally.
The governor highlighted these same mental-health issues in his State of the State address earlier this year, saying he wanted Ohio to “lead the world in behavioral health research, community care and workforce development.” On Wednesday, the governor highlighted his administration’s work on mental-health issues so far, including the creation of the Ohio RISE program, which helps extend Medicaid coverage to children with multiple behavioral-health issues so their parents don’t lose custody of them.
It remains to be seen how DeWine’s proposals will be received by state lawmakers, which make significant changes to every governor’s two-year budget plans before passing them into law.
Besides his mental-health plan, DeWine, who was reelected to a second term earlier this month, has vowed during his second term to push through a wide-ranging proposal to help Ohio children, including by expanding Medicaid eligibility and publicly funded child care for lower-income Ohioans, adding mental-health resources for post-partum mothers, and boosting foster-care spending.
After DeWine’s speech, the governor told reporters that his administration is also looking at providing additional scholarship money for Ohio students attending in-state colleges and universities.
“We have middle-class families that struggle even to send a child to a state university today. That should not be happening,” DeWine said. “We have an obligation, I think in the state, to make sure that the scholarships are there, and they’re robust.”
DeWine said his staff is still working on the details of what the proposed scholarship changes will look like.
Jeremy Pelzer covers state government and politics for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read more of his work here.