Subcommittees add funds for mental health, autism, housing vouchers and foster-care supports
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Summary
Appropriations panels approved new funding for behavioral health and developmental‑disability services, autism centers, a Georgia housing voucher pilot and multiple child-welfare supports including foster-care rate increases and family supports.
House appropriations subcommittee presentations and votes added multiple targeted appropriations for behavioral health, developmental disabilities, autism services and child-welfare programs.
Key additions included: $1,000,000 for alcohol use-disorder peer-support expansion serving Northeast Georgia Medical Center and surrounding rural counties; funding for hepatitis C screening (an existing program described as having completed about 90,000 screens and 950 cures since 2016); a $1,700,000 allocation cited for the Georgia Housing Voucher Program (associated with roughly 100 vouchers in the presentation); and $9.4 million (presented as approximately $9,400,000) to advance a North Fulton behavioral health crisis center that had prior planning funds in the amended budget.
The subcommittee listed additional allocations for autism services (a $100,000 add for a Savannah-area autism center and $500,000 for Marcus Autism Center to expand year‑round programming), $300,000 to Mercy Care for expanded homelessness-linked behavioral health supports, and $750,000 for Partners for HOME to deliver intensive services to about 75 people identified as homeless with persistent mental illness. The committee also moved funding to expand forensic/jail diversion and inpatient-discharge planning positions for psychiatric residential settings.
On child-welfare matters, the committee added about $19,000,000 for increased utilization growth in out‑of‑home care and separate line items for clothing and essential supplies for foster youth; it also approved a 2% provider-rate increase for child‑caring institutions, child-placing agencies, foster parents and relative caregivers. The presentation included a $500,000 grama for family support and a modest one‑time daily stipend proposal to facilitate openings of foster homes (described as $10 per day per child in the talk). The committee recorded motions and voice votes to advance the human‑resources and human‑services items.
Ending
The subcommittee directed follow-up on implementation details for voucher eligibility, capacity for autism and behavioral-health expansions, and timelines for phased openings of crisis‑center and housing‑voucher programs.