Mental Health Department requests recurring and one-time investments to shorten forensic wait times and expand school-based liaisons
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Summary
The Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse told the House Finance, Ways & Means Committee it is seeking targeted recurring and nonrecurring funds to expand school-based behavioral health liaisons, increase supportive housing beds and sustain rural mobile clinics while reporting improved overdose outcomes and ongoing capacity shortfalls for forensic evaluations.
The Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse told lawmakers on Feb. 25 that overdose deaths in Tennessee have fallen by more than 30 percent since recent investments and credited community providers and regional specialists for the decline. Commissioner (identified in the transcript only by title) outlined the department's proposed fiscal 2027 requests and program results, then answered detailed questions from committee members.
Why it matters: Committee members pressed for specifics because the department still faces long waits for court-ordered forensic evaluations and limited staffed bed capacity in state hospitals. Lawmakers said reducing wait times and clearing jail holds are priorities that would require targeted funding and staffing changes.
What the department proposed and reported: The presentation highlighted Project Rural Recovery (serving 20 rural communities and more than 6,600 Tennesseans with behavioral and physical health services and more than 19,000 patient visits to date) and reported criminal-justice liaison coverage in every jail with more than 16,000 people served. The budget asks included: $3 million recurring to expand the school-based behavioral health liaison program by up to 43 liaisons (funded from the K–12 Mental Health Trust Fund); $5 million nonrecurring to expand the Creating Homes supportive housing initiative by roughly 100 permanent beds for people returning from incarceration; $3.8 million nonrecurring to sustain and expand Project Rural Recovery mobile units; and several other nonrecurring items to continue addiction recovery and workforce initiatives.
Capacity and wait times: Legislators focused on the time between a court order and an evaluation. The department said the average waits are about 98 days at Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute and about 112 days at Moccasin Bend, while noting Tennessee's waits compare favorably to several other states. The chief of hospital operations said the four regional mental health institutes are licensed for 763 beds, 602 are currently in operation and roughly 161 licensed beds are not set up to operate; the department estimated staffing roughly 25 beds would cost about $5 million.
School-based services and workforce: Committee members pressed on the goal of placing a liaison in each of roughly 1,800 school buildings. The department said prior investments produced around 391–400 liaisons in place (85–87% of allocated slots filled) and that each liaison costs about $70,000 annually.
Other items: The department described its use of TennCare shared savings for substance-use disorder treatment, ongoing scholarship programs (Pathways Behavioral Health Scholarship) to shore up the workforce, and partnerships with community providers and university clinics for problem-gambling services targeted at teenagers and young adults.
What happens next: Committee members requested follow-up figures for program-specific counts (forensic referrals since Jillian's Law, the Addiction Recovery Program enrollment and outcomes, and more precise cost estimates for staffing additional beds). The department agreed to provide supplemental numbers and further documentation to the committee.
