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Committee reviews mental health services budget, behavioral health plan funding and transfer exemptions
Summary
Legislative analysts and the Department of Health and Welfare briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on the Division of Mental Health Services budget, the status of the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan (IBHP), 988 crisis-line startup costs and the department’s request for transfer-exemption authority tied to Idaho Code §67-3511.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the division of mental health services covers children’s and adult mental health programs and that the division’s budget pages are in the committee’s book (2-091).
The division’s recent appropriations included a $6,000,000 ongoing enhancement for community behavioral health clinics and one-time allocations of $3,000,000 for community mental health and $4,400,000 to help stand up the 988 crisis line, Williamson said. She also briefed the committee on agency requests tied to the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan (IBHP), including a fiscal 2025 supplemental and a 2026 ongoing federal-funded operating request.
The department asked for a $6,700,000 supplemental (federal) to support the first year of the IBHP and a $261,400 ongoing federal operating enhancement for grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Williamson said. She said the supplemental is needed because some federal grants issued for IBHP go-live were appropriated in earlier years and the agency needs current authority to access them.
Director Alex Adams, Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee the IBHP procurement and implementation process was prolonged. "I believe it is the largest contract in the history of the state, so I do think it is wise and prudent for the department to do it right versus to do it quickly," Adams said, and he added that the procurement faced roughly a year of legal challenges that delayed implementation. Adams confirmed the Go-Live occurred in July 2024.
Adams said the department is seeking exemptions to the program-transfer limits in Idaho Code §67-3511 for fiscal 2025 (a supplemental request) and is recommending that the division have no additional transfer restrictions beyond those statutory limits in 2026. He said the department requested the exemption to allow transfers into adult and children’s mental health for unforeseen expenditures in the current fiscal year.
Adams also described the department’s budget constraints and the practical effect of transfer restrictions. He said the department temporarily suspended some children’s mental health services earlier in the year to keep spending within the adopted budget rather than come back to the Legislature immediately for a supplemental. "We had to temporarily suspend children's mental health services," Adams said, explaining the suspension followed the department’s effort to live within the current appropriation.
Senators and representatives asked follow-up questions about procurement timing, vendor selection for 988 services, and why the behavioral health-plan budget is discussed separately from Medicaid. Adams said the Medicaid budget will include the Medicaid-side IBHP contract and the behavioral health supplemental budgets being heard now fill non-Medicaid gaps (for example respite services or services for patients over income thresholds). He said the department is agnostic about vendor identity for 988 provided the contractor meets contract standards; Magellan currently holds the contractor role and contracts with subcontractors to provide services.
Clarifying details in the committee record include: $6,000,000 ongoing for community behavioral health clinics (federal funds); $3,000,000 one-time for community mental health; $4,400,000 one-time for 988; IBHP-related supplemental $6,700,000 (federal) and ongoing $261,400 (federal); and the department’s requested transfer-exemption tied to Idaho Code §67-3511.
The committee did not take final action on the division’s budget at this hearing. The presentation concluded with the analyst and director standing for questions.
Why it matters: the division’s appropriations and any statutory transfer exemptions affect the department’s ability to move funds across object classes to respond to service demand, particularly for non-Medicaid gap services and crisis response infrastructure such as 988.
