House panel keeps Howard Center outreach line item after debate over mobile crisis overlap

The House Appropriations Committee on March 21 reviewed a Department of Mental Health line item to retain funding for the Howard Center’s community outreach program and did not remove it from the committee spreadsheet.

Committee members said the Howard Center outreach work is distinct from mobile crisis teams and can prevent crises by building relationships in the community, whereas mobile crisis teams respond to urgent calls. Chair, House Appropriations Committee, said the outreach program “helps anticipate crises and perhaps avoid them,” and members agreed to keep the line item open for now rather than accept the governor’s removal of the item.

Why it matters: Committee members described the outreach program as long-standing and preventive in nature. Multiple members told colleagues that mobile crisis teams and outreach teams operate at different points in a behavioral-health continuum; committee discussion focused on whether retaining the outreach program creates duplication or saves more costly interventions later.

During the discussion Emily Byrne, Doig Fiscal Office, confirmed the line appears in the Department of Mental Health budget roll (line 32/row 33 on the committee sheet) and that the committee had not changed the governor’s presentation for that line in earlier drafts. Several members asked for more detail before making a final determination.

Outcome and next steps: Committee members left the Howard Center outreach line item open for further review rather than moving to remove it. No formal vote was recorded; the committee instructed staff to leave the item available for future action and to provide clarifying information about differences between outreach and mobile crisis teams.

Context: The discussion occurred during the committee’s line-by-line numbers review of the fiscal documents and followed the committee’s earlier work aligning its spreadsheet to the governor’s recommendations.