Dear Community Members,

On May 30, 2025, the DC Council’s Committee on Health held a public budget oversight hearing to review the proposed FY 2026 budget for the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH). Led by Councilmember Christina Henderson, this hearing was an opportunity for public witnesses — including parents, clinicians, youth advocates, educators, and hospital staff — to share their voices and concerns.

Below is a summary of key updates affecting families, youth, and behavioral health professionals across the District:

School-Based Mental Health Services Under Threat

What’s happening:

• The mayor’s proposed budget includes a $3.3 million cut to the school-based behavioral health expansion program.
• Advocates, many from the Strengthening Families Coalition, warn this will reduce access to mental health clinicians in schools, affecting youth who are already struggling with trauma, anxiety, housing instability, and more.

Advocates are calling for:

• A $129,000 minimum grant for all 101 schools with community-based clinicians.
• A clear breakdown of how the $25.4M DBH budget for school mental health is being spent.
• Greater transparency and collaboration to prevent service gaps.

Why it matters: Children and youth — especially Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and immigrant students — are disproportionately impacted by mental health challenges. School-based services play a critical role in providing early intervention for thousands of students, particularly those experiencing trauma, homelessness, and other serious challenges. Cuts to funding threaten this vital work, putting essential mental health supports at risk and leaving the most vulnerable students without the help they need.

Behavioral Health + Housing: A Crucial Connection

What’s happening:

• Providers like SOME, Inc. raised alarm over funding cuts to behavioral health housing supports, especially transitional housing for individuals recovering from substance use.
• Many stressed that housing is healthcare — and recovery is difficult without a stable, safe place to live.

Why it matters: Reductions in housing-related services put people at risk of relapse, hospital readmission, or homelessness — eroding gains made through mental health and substance use treatment, especially since recovery efforts often collapse without stable housing.

St. Elizabeths Hospital: Safety and Resource Crisis

What’s happening:

• Nurses and staff from St. Elizabeths hospital painted testified about unsafe conditions, including:
  • Over 130 staff assaults in the past year
  • Shortages of essential supplies (e.g., diabetic readers, eyeglasses, soap)
  • A forensic patient population that now makes up 90% of the hospital’s residents, without matching security or structural support
  • Delayed responses from leadership and a lack of frontline involvement in decision-making

Why it matters: Patients and healthcare workers deserve safe, well-equipped environments. Budget delays and mismanagement are putting lives at risk. Staff called for greater transparency, investment in staffing, safety equipment, and proper supplies to protect everyone in the hospital.

Youth Crisis Services Cut

What’s happening:

• Funding for the Children’s Crisis Team (CHAMPS) is being eliminated, which will reduce access to emergency mental health response for youth.

Advocates warned:

• Without CHAMPS, schools may resort to calling police when students are in a behavioral health crisis — a step backward in efforts to create trauma-informed environments.
  • Crisis response data shows CHAMPS helped reduce unnecessary hospitalizations

Why it matters: Children and youth in crisis deserve compassionate care from mental health professionals — not intervention by law enforcement. Disbanding crisis response teams heightens the risk of trauma and harm, particularly for children of color and those with disabilities.

Ideas for Sustainable Funding

Advocates proposed:

• Creating a 988 mental health emergency line fee, similar to 911, to raise long-term funding for crisis services.
• Redirecting unspent funds (e.g., unused housing vouchers) to areas of greatest need, like transitional housing or crisis teams.
• Exploring moving the school-based mental health program to a more collaborative agency or improving DBH’s accountability.
• Increase collaboration across DC agencies to improve service delivery and equity.

Final Note from the Committee

Councilmember Henderson committed to asking tough follow-up questions to DBH leadership at the upcoming June 2 hearing and emphasized the importance of transparency, safety, and protecting behavioral health infrastructure during a tight budget season.

Now more than ever, your voice matters. It’s time to strengthen the safety net for our children, our neighbors in recovery, and our public health workers.

Advocates for Justice and Education (AJE) is a part of the Strengthening Families Coalition and is actively engaged in the Coordinating Council for School-Based Behavioral Health. We join voices with the following Coalition budgetary requests: 

DBH

• Establish a minimum grant amount for the SBBH Expansion Program and work to maintain level funding of $18.8M and the negative impact of the proposed cut of $2.3M.
• Raise the minimum grant amount to $129,000 — this would fund all 101 schools that have a CBO clinician hired, as well as fund the OSSE Analyst Position, SBBH Coordinator Stipend, and the Dashboard, and still have money left to fund 22 additional schools with a grant amount of $129,000.

OSSE

• Provide a minimum $1500 compensation per school year for the SBBH Coordinator role.
• Fund School-Based Behavioral Health Management Analyst at Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) for $128,00.

DC Health

• Fund the B25-0759, the “Child Behavioral Health Services Dashboard Act of 2024,” and $113,365 in FY26, a total of $458,000 is needed over the four-year fiscal plan.  

In our ongoing efforts to drive collective action through advocacy, AJE is excited to host a Health Policy Camp from July 14–25. This dynamic event will bring together families, caregivers, professionals, and advocates to empower parents with the knowledge, tools, and community connections needed to advance equitable healthcare access and timely diagnosis for children with disabilities.

If you’re interested in joining us, sign up here!