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Behavioral health officials point to 988 fund, opioid settlement and mobile crisis plans as tools to expand crisis response
Summary
The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health told the Joint Finance Committee it will use the new 988 surcharge fund and opioid settlement money to stand up a behavioral health crisis communication center, expand mobile crisis teams and support a digital treatment referral network while warning workforce gaps remain.
Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAM) Director provided the Joint Finance Committee an update on overdose trends, crisis services and the division's FY26 governor's recommended budget.
The division said the state has started collecting 988 surcharge fees; receipts for January through November 2024 totaled about $8.3 million, and the division projects roughly $8 million to $9 million annually. The DSAM director said the Behavioral Health Crisis Communication Center (BHCCC) will use a portion of those monies to consolidate crisis phone/chat/text lines and coordinate mobile crisis response so callers reach a single, unified service routed through 988.
What the division is funding and building: - DSAM reported a FY26 GRB of $133,003,000 in general funds; $14,816,200 in appropriated special funds; and $24,593,000 in non-appropriated special funds for a total of $172,412,200. - The division is launching the Delaware Treatment Referral Network (DTran360), a digital care-coordination platform to share real-time referral and status information among behavioral health providers. - New resources include expanded state-funded detox beds in Kent and Sussex counties, higher reimbursement for substance-use disorder providers serving uninsured clients, and a renewed round of 9 88-funded initiatives including mobile crisis and BHCCC startup costs. - DSAM said it received funding for a state rental assistance program (SRAP) that increased vouchers to 460 to house people with serious mental illness.
Overdose and equity trends: the director said overdose deaths in Delaware fell nearly 2 percent while noting nonfatal overdoses have not declined in tandem; the division attributes part of the improvement to wider Narcan distribution and targeted health-equity grants that get naloxone to higher-risk communities. DSAM also said it is in its third round of health-equity grants funded by federal State Opioid Response monies.
Opioid settlement fund and grants: the director said the state-level opioid settlement program has made prior awards and continues to solicit proposals; testimony in the hearing noted a forthcoming grant round of approximately $13 million for the next cohort. The division also described newly formed certifying body First State Alliance of Recovery Residences (FASAR), created in response to a statutory requirement.
Workforce and operational pressures: committee members pressed DSAM on staffing for mobile crisis and 988 call handling. DSAM said it will use some 988 funds for equipment, chat/text operations and to supplement staffing where state merit positions cannot be filled; it also described a planned reclassification package for crisis-intervention roles to improve recruitment.
Public comment and local needs: dozens of providers and community advocates from treatment, recovery housing and harm-reduction groups urged more funding for community-based overdose prevention, integrated wound care and expanded treatment capacity. Provider groups and advocates pushed for grants and contracted services to ensure geographic coverage across Kent and Sussex counties.
Ending: DSAM told lawmakers the BHCCC plan was approved by Delaware's behavioral health crisis board in 2024 and that additional administrative decisions, contracts and staffing plans will follow as the 988 fund accrues and settlement awards are allocated.
