Power generator replacements for homes where Mississippians with intellectual disabilities live. A major repair for a state hospital that’s likely to be cited in its next inspection without it. Financial support for the community mental health centers required to treat people regardless of their ability to pay.
These are some of the looming financial issues Department of Mental Health Executive Director Wendy Bailey highlighted to state lawmakers in her agency’s fiscal year 2027 budget request. It asks for just over $765 million — about $33 million more in general fund appropriations than lawmakers allocated last year.
State agencies rarely receive all the money they request. The mental health department’s plan for some of the additional tens of millions of dollars is to expand services and to address one-time needs, Bailey said at a January Senate appropriations meeting. Some of the money also would help to keep up with rising expenses across health care.
“Just like you’ve seen an increase in your cost for your living expenses at your home, it’s the same at a 24/7 health care situation, too,” Bailey said at the meeting.
But as the legislative session approaches its March 30 deadline to decide the mental health department’s next budget, the House and Senate haven’t included funding for much of these expenses in their proposals. Neither plan will likely match the final appropriation, but they can indicate how each chamber is considering the agency’s next budget.
The Senate’s version of the bill reduced funding for the agency compared to last year by about $4 million. The House’s amendment added about $14 million more than the Senate’s plan in general funds to Mississippi’s mental health department, mostly specified for partial funding of some of the department’s requests. But it does not include additional funding for the state hospital capital improvements or the community mental health center operational costs.
Bailey at the March 19 Department of Mental health board meeting said her agency is extremely appreciative of the House’s amendment, but she didn’t speak to the board members about how her department would address the costs she previously outlined if the request isn’t fulfilled.
“It would be wonderful, and I know several of you did, reach out to your House of Representative members in your area and thank them for the work they’ve done so far on our appropriations bills,” she told the board members.
Adam Moore, spokesperson for the department, told Mississippi Today after the meeting that the Legislature could also address some of the agency’s capital improvement needs through a different funding bill.
He said the agency will continue to monitor the budget process until the Legislature finalizes the department’s funding for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1.
“We work through it, make do with what we have, and we’ll have to prioritize with what we get,” Moore said.
Can Mississippi’s community mental health centers survive more budget cuts?
Others who work with Mississippi’s public mental health system expressed concern about the gap between the department’s request and what legislators have proposed.
Phaedre Cole, president of the Mississippi Association of Community Mental Health Centers and executive director of Life Help in the Mississippi Delta, said the $4.2 million increase the agency asked for hers and others’ organizations would help offset the cost of providing services to vulnerable Mississippians. The state’s 12 centers are expected to treat people’s mental health conditions regardless of their insurance or ability to pay.
However, it doesn’t fully cover the centers’ actual operational cost needs, Cole said. She estimated that number to be about $14.4 million.
Phaedre Cole, president of the Mississippi Association of Community Mental Health Centers, right, listens as Katiee Evans talks about her recovery at a Life Center office in Dublin, Miss., on Monday, April 28, 2025. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayNeither the House or Senate proposals would add any additional line-item funding for the centers next fiscal year. Cole said she knows legislators are supportive of the mental health centers in their regions, and she said she and the other executive directors have been calling to remind their local lawmakers of that.
But she is aware Mississippi Medicaid Director Cindy Bradshaw has warned that the agency could lower its provider payments up to 11%. If the additional funding request for community mental health centers is unfulfilled and Medicaid payment rates drop for services they provide, Cole said the financial impact on the organizations would be “catastrophic.”
“I don’t know how we would survive that,” she said.
Matt Westerfield, a spokesperson for Mississippi Medicaid, didn’t respond to a phone call and email asking about this scenario. Angela Ladner, executive director of the Mississippi Psychiatric Association, said the current system of funding for community mental health centers often asks more of the organizations than what they can afford.
State lawmakers told Mississippi Medicaid and the mental health department to apply for a federal program that would make community mental health service funding more sustainable, but the state was not selected the last time it applied. Without changing the model or adding more funding, Ladner said mental health services for Mississippians who most need it could be in jeopardy.
“Saying ‘We’re going to just give them the same thing that we’ve always given them’ is not necessarily going to get us where we need to go,” she said.
Forgoing building improvements to the state hospitals may prevent the facilities from serving the public as well, according to the Department of Mental Health. Bailey, the department’s executive director, told state senators at the January appropriations meeting that inspectors will cite North Mississippi State Hospital’s current generator if it is not replaced soon.
Bobby Thomas talks with his mentor, Angela Ladner, executive director of the Mississippi Psychiatric Association. Credit: Billy Watkins/Mississippi Center for Investigative ReportingShe also said the department would use capital improvement funding for community homes run by North Mississippi Regional Center, where some Mississippians with intellectual and developmental disabilities live. The homes, Bailey said, need six new backup power generators — which some homes relied on during January’s severe winter storm.
Executive directors for both mental health centers referred Mississippi Today’s interview requests to Moore, who did not elaborate further on their buildings’ needs.
Ladner said in the long term, the state could improve how it goes about contracting capital improvement contracts for government buildings, including looking to fund joint projects with local governments. But in the short term, she said the state’s mental health department needs to find the money to replace the old generators.
“Obviously, that needs to be addressed,” she said.
‘I want to get the real number’
Two lawmakers tasked with negotiating the mental health department’s next budget said negotiations over the state’s Medicaid budget bill will have bearings over DMH’s appropriations.
House Republican Public Health and Human Services Committee Chair Sam Creekmore said he would like to finalize that budget before moving on to mental health.
He said making sure the department can fund mental health services and replace out-of-date generators is a major priority. But Creekmore said state agencies can inflate their financial needs in initial budget requests, and he wants to talk with Bailey more before the negotiations.
“I want to get the real number if I can find it,” he said.
Sen. Angela Hill, the Republican chair of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the mental health department’s budget, said she is concerned about public mental health funding in Mississippi. She’s heard from the community mental health center that serves her hometown of Picayune, and she knows they are struggling to finance their services.
She said while she has some input in this budget bill, leaders in both the House and the Senate will make the final decisions about the agency’s next budget. Hill said in her role, she does her best to prioritize what she believes is important — such as the community centers.
“It’s my goal to do as much as we can for them,” she said.
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