Wake County Board approves $31.6 million for behavioral health services

Wake County Commissioners took action Monday to ensure more behavioral health services are readily available in our community. During their meeting, they approved a $31.6 million funding agreement with Alliance Health , aimed at addressing gaps in key areas like crisis services, criminal justice, housing and system access/coordination.

“Investing in behavioral health services is crucial for the well-being of our community,” said Wake County Commissioner Cheryl Stallings. “This funding and partnership with Alliance ensures that help is available for those who need it and it underscores our commitment to providing comprehensive and accessible health care for everyone.”

Under this agreement, Wake County will allocate the funds across six service categories:

• Treatment, $6.3 million — Will fund outpatient services for adults who have a behavioral health diagnosis or co-occurring mental health/substance use diagnoses and have no payor source.

• Crisis services, $19.4 million == These funds will offer immediate assistance and stabilization for individuals experiencing mental health crises through services at WakeBrook, inpatient psychiatric care at local inpatient facilities and enhanced mobile crisis options.

• Criminal justice, $180,250 Supports the criminal justice system by providing outpatient/post-release treatments of adults who have co-occurring mental health and substance use diagnosis and are being discharged from the Wake County Detention Center.

• Residential, $1.2 million — Residential programs and support will provide funding to support substance use transitional living beds, short term supportive housing, and case management and peer support for adults with severe mental illness living in permanent supportive housing.

• Support assist programs, $3.1 million — These are programs that do not directly provide treatment on their own but instead are utilized in conjunction with other programs. This includes school-based mental health programs, CASAWORKS perinatal programs and recreation programming for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

• Recovery, $600,000 – Will support recovery focused services including a peer-led recovery center using evidenced-based practices.

Wake County has provided local county resources to Alliance Health since 2012 to assist with the provision of mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse services in our community. Wake County and Alliance work together to establish the service areas that will receive County funding and leverage state and federal dollars.

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