Dear Association Executives – We are reaching out to update you that on Saturday, March 23, 2024, President Biden signed Congress' final Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 six-bill spending package, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, which includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, into law. This prevented an anticipated partial government shutdown.
The Labor-HHS spending package included an $18 million increase in funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, along with a $1 million increase to the Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) grant technical assistance program, both key National Council priorities. The bill also includes a $75 million increase for mental health research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Due to a $703.7 billion non-defense funding cap and additional negotiated adjustments, many programs saw minimal budget changes, with a number of key behavioral health programs maintaining funding levels equal to those of FY2023.
Notable mental health and substance use disorder FY2024 funding totals include:
- $385,000,000 for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) (level with FY2023);
- $986,532,000 for the Mental Health Block Grant, which includes maintaining an existing 5 percent set-aside of the total for evidence-based crisis care programs that address the needs of individuals with serious mental illnesses, children with serious emotional disturbances, or individuals experiencing a mental health crisis (level with FY2023);
- $153,000,000 for Behavioral Health Workforce and Training, including $40,000,000 for the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program (level with FY2023);
- $1,575,000,000 for State Opioid Response (SOR) Grants (level with FY2023); and
- $1,928,879,000 for Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery (SUPT) Grants (level with FY2023).
Additional funding levels for mental health and substance use programs can be found in this comparative table here. You can access the joint explanatory text for Labor-HHS provisions here, and a summary of all provisions here.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or to Peter Delia, Federal Policy Manager, at PeterD@thenationalcouncil.org.
Thank you - Reyna
Reyna Taylor
Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Advocacy
Policy Department
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Direct: 202-774-1651
ReynaT@TheNationalCouncil.org
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Neal Comstock
Director of Membership
National Council
NealC@TheNationalCouncil.org202 748-8793
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