Maryland Congressional Delegation Announces Nearly $55.4 Million in American Rescue Plan Funding to Expand Mental Health Services and Combat the Opioid Epidemic
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony Brown, Jamie Raskin and David Trone (all D-Md.) today announced nearly $55.4 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan to expand access to mental health services and substance use disorder treatment programs across the state. There has been an 18.7% increase in unintentional overdoses, with opioid detection in 90% of cases, in Maryland. This is the highest rate recorded in Maryland’s data.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented so many uncertainties for individuals, families and communities. People have suffered immeasurable challenges from the loss of their livelihoods to the loss of loved ones. During this time, we’ve also seen an alarming and dangerous increase in opioid and fentanyl overdoses. These tragedies underscore the importance of establishing equitable access to behavioral health services across our state,” the lawmakers said. “This robust round of federal funding will provide Marylanders with critical mental health resources and bolster ongoing efforts to address substance use disorders. We remain committed to securing additional resources to build our public health infrastructure so we can better support individuals coping with mental illness and addiction.”
The $55,397,277 in funding comes from the American Rescue Plan and is directed to the following agencies and programs: