Va. Shortchanged Fairfax, Falls Church, Officials Say

Share of Mental Health Funding Is Questioned

Fairfax County and Falls Church will receive only about 3.3 percent of new adult mental health funding allocated to Virginia localities this year, even though they account for nearly 10 percent of community mental health patients in the state.

The Virginia General Assembly approved nearly $42 million in March to strengthen the state's system in reaction to the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, when Seung Hui Cho, a mentally ill student, killed 32 students and faculty members. More than $21.8 million of that will be doled out to 40 local agencies, called community services boards, that provide help to mentally ill people. Community mental health clients receive services from local agencies as outpatients instead of in large state hospitals.

The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, which also serves Fairfax City, will receive $324,862 this year and $397,790 in 2009. The agency served about 11,190 clients last year, about 9 percent of Virginia's 126,000 community patients in fiscal 2008. The agency spent $62.4 million on mental health services in fiscal 2008, $9.7 million of that from the state.

Virginia officials said the money, which was approved by state lawmakers, is allocated by a funding formula that gives all jurisdictions with more than 253,000 residents the same amount of money, no matter how many patients they serve.

This year, localities with fewer than 84,579 residents will receive $162,430; 84,580 to 169,158 residents, $216,575; and 169,159 to 253,737 residents, $270,718. An additional $5 million will be distributed to localities under a different formula.

The money will help implement reforms, including emergency services, crisis stabilization services, case management and inpatient and outpatient mental health services for people who need emergency mental health services. It will also offset the cost of attendance at involuntary commitment hearings and of providing mandatory outpatient treatment.

Fairfax officials said the funding formula shortchanges the state's largest community mental health system.

"We are very appreciative of the 'down payment' which the state has made to provide funding to support the expansion of community-based services," said Jim Thur, executive director of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board. "As the need for our services continues to increase and the ability of local governments to provide funding decreases, it is absolutely essential that the state maintain its commitment to fully fund this initiative."

Officials with the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, which developed the formula, said the funding reflects the needs of smaller localities in poor areas that seek more help from the state. Generally, Northern Virginia localities are wealthier and able to pay for more services from local coffers than smaller, usually rural jurisdictions.

"The formula was in no way intended to penalize any category" of community services boards, said Meghan Wedd McGuire, department spokeswoman.

She said the formula took a statewide perspective. "If more funds were given to the larger [community services boards], some of the smaller ones might not have enough money to implement all of the new laws."