Miss Bailey, a Department of Mental Health official, told the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee the agency is requesting $283,092,360 in general funds for FY26, an increase of $27,458,644 over the current year, to support forensic services, IDD waiver enrollments, staffing and salary adjustments, and expanded community crisis care.

The agency asked for $6,600,000 specifically to staff and operate a new 81‑bed maximum‑security forensic unit at Mississippi State Hospital, expected to open in spring. "Forensic services keeps Mississippi community safe," Miss Bailey told the committee, and she said additional beds will reduce jail waits for competency restoration and help avoid litigation tied to long pretrial waits.

IDD waiver and institutional needs. DMH requested $2,900,000 to enroll about 200 people from the planning list onto the home‑and‑community‑based waiver and $5,700,000 for Medicaid rate increases the division of Medicaid will implement in July 2025. Miss Bailey reported that as of July 1 there were 2,868 people receiving waiver services and 2,521 on the planning list.

Operational and staffing requests. The department asked for $4,800,000 to address operational shortfalls at state‑operated IDD regional programs, citing increasing care needs and an aging resident population (clients over age 45 rose from 48% to 62.3% in ten years). It also requested $6,600,000 for hiring and salary adjustments, including shift differential and in‑range adjustments to improve recruitment and retention.

Crisis services and 988. Miss Bailey highlighted program outcomes funded through recent appropriations and ARPA: a 58% decrease in jail waits for state‑hospital admissions (average two‑day wait in FY24), 1,897 acute psychiatric admissions last fiscal year, and a 14% increase in crisis‑stabilization admissions. The state reported a 14% increase in 988 calls from FY23 to FY24 and an in‑state answer rate of 97 percent. The department also distributed 65,100 doses of naloxone last year through federal and state funds.

ARPA and program build‑out. Miss Bailey reviewed Senate Bill 2865, which provided roughly $51,000,000 in ARPA funds to DMH through FY27 for crisis continuum investments (988 support, mobile crisis teams, crisis stabilization beds, peer respite sites and IDD crisis supports). She said many ARPA projects were service‑based and that initial hiring and start‑up timing accounted for slower first‑year spending.

Recruitment challenges and wage context. The department noted it remains down about 1,000 employees from pre‑COVID levels and competes for staff with hospitals, the VA, and private industry. Miss Bailey gave examples of market pressures, citing grocery and warehouse wage increases and support‑care professional starting pay near $11 per hour, and said the department has targeted a $30,000 average for support‑care professionals by 2025.

Mobile crisis teams and child services. As part of the request, DMH asked for $780,000 to add a child/adolescent specialist to each mobile crisis team; teams reported about 78,100 calls and 27,100 face‑to‑face mobile responses last year.

Committee questions and next steps. Committee members asked about ARPA spending not obligated in the first year and about federal alignment; Miss Bailey said implementation timing and hiring delayed some obligations. The department said it will follow up with detailed spending schedules and the electronic‑health‑record assessment for community mental‑health centers.