An Oakton-based nonprofit has been sounding an alarm about Fairfax County’s plans to eliminate funding for a key mental health program.
The fiscal year 2027 budget presented by County Executive Bryan Hill in February would terminate a $618,952 contract for BeWell, a program run by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) and the nonprofit HopeLink Behavioral Health that coaches people living with serious mental illnesses on their overall health and wellness.
“BeWell has enabled us to better serve individuals with mental health issues receive coordinated care for their overall health, rather than having two mostly independent systems of care,” HopeLink CEO Joseph Getch said in a statement. “Losing this program will be a significant step backwards for mental health services and those in Fairfax who’ve benefited from it. We hope that the Fairfax Board of Supervisors will keep funding this important and impactful program.”
Originally launched in 2015 with a federal grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, BeWell pairs people already receiving CSB services with a peer health coach provided by HopeLink as well as primary and medical care offered by the county and nonprofit clinics, including Neighborhood Health and HealthWorks.
The health coach works one-on-one with CSB clients to develop a plan for them to achieve their health-related goals, which could range from eating healthy to quitting smoking or managing chronic conditions like diabetes.
Since the program began, it has assisted more than 1,000 people at no cost to them, according to HopeLink.
However, the CSB was already “in the process of restructuring” BeWell after losing grant funding to support the program, budget documents say.
The agency “will implement a new in-house smoking cessation program and nurse-led education groups to continue offering key wellness services,” the county said in its breakdown of Hill’s proposed budget reductions for FY 2027.
But Getch argues that having peer health coaches who’ve experienced similar mental health or substance use struggles as the people they’re helping has been “a valuable component” of the BeWell partnership — one that would be lost if the program is terminated in its current form.
HopeLink could theoretically continue providing peer health coaching services without county funding by billing Medicaid, but about 20% of clients aren’t covered by Medicaid, and the current reimbursement rate for peer recovery services doesn’t cover the full cost of BeWell, Getch says.
“It would not be the same program,” he said of the possibility of continuing BeWell outside of the existing partnership with the CSB. “The scale would likely be smaller, with access barriers for those without Medicaid, and likely geographic barriers because of the loss of use of CSB facilities to deliver services across the entire county.”
According to a Fairfax County spokesperson, the restructuring of BeWell is “part of broader cost-containment efforts,” as staff try to adjust resources based on the funding that’s available while “minimizing impacts on the community.”
The program has been fully funded by Fairfax County since fiscal year 2019, when the initial federal grant ran out.
“Despite recent reductions, the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) and partners continue to deliver essential behavioral health and developmental disability services,” the spokesperson said in a statement to FFXnow. “However, sustaining current service levels is increasingly difficult as demand grows and resources tighten.”
Other Community Services Board cuts proposed
Eliminating its contract for BeWell is just one of the cuts that Fairfax County is currently considering making to the CSB’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which will begin on July 1.
The proposed $4.7 million in reductions also includes:
- Over $2 million to shift individuals currently receiving locally funded developmental disability services to a Medicaid waiver slot
- $600,000 to approach furniture replacement on an as-needed basis, limiting the agency’s ability to make upgrades proactively
- $519,354 to eliminate sign-on bonuses that were introduced to address significant staff vacancies that emerged in the wake of the pandemic
- $292,232 from eliminating a vacant director position for the CSB’s Intensive Community Treatment division
- $165,683 from eliminating three staff positions that help high school seniors with developmental disabilities transition from school into the community
- $157,500 to reduce “repetitive” lab testing and “unnecessary” urine drug screenings that are currently ordered for all patients. The CSB will order only medically necessary tests going forward.
- Reduced spending for certain contract services and overtime
According to the advertised budget, the CSB has made progress on recruiting staff over the past couple of years, reducing its vacancy levels to fewer than 100 full-time positions. Back in 2022, the agency had over 200 empty positions.
The Fairfax County spokesperson says the sign-on bonuses proved “effective” at drawing candidates to the CSB for difficult-to-fill positions, with amounts varying by position.
“The CSB is beginning to see improved workforce stability following the pandemic,” the spokesperson said. “… In the past several months, vacancies have averaged around 7% across program areas and the CSB will continue to monitor trends and adjust recruitment and retention strategies as needed.”
The transition services provided to high school seniors with disabilities wouldn’t be eliminated with the three dropped staff positions. Instead, the county is proposing to include $400,000 for Fairfax County Public Schools to provide those services.
Whether FCPS would be willing to take on the cost of providing the currently county-funded services remains an open question, though. After making tough cuts last year, including to contractually promised pay raises for employees, the school system is facing a $43.8 million gap between the funding Superintendent Michelle Reid requested from the county government and what Hill has proposed transferring.
Hill’s advertised FY 2027 budget includes additional funding for the CSB to cover increased employee compensation, an expansion of its adult medication clinic at the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health in Merrifield, support coordinators to assist with Medicaid waivers, vehicle fuel and maintenance costs, and other needs.
However, balanced out by the proposed reductions, the CSB would receive about $1 million less than it did for the current fiscal year, ending June 30. The proposed $241 million budget would still represent an increase from the adopted FY 2026 budget of approximately $224 million.
For FY 2027, Hill had directed all county agencies to identify cuts amounting to 5% of their budgets. He ultimately proposed slashing $32.9 million overall, or 1.9% on average per agency, with major changes including an elimination of high school crossing guards, teen and community center programming cuts, reduced funding for Fairfax Connector, and more.
HopeLink says its staff and volunteers will advocate for the county to preserve funding for BeWell at the Board of Supervisors’ public hearings on the budget, which will start around 4 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) and continue on Wednesday and Thursday (April 15-16).
The board will mark up Hill’s advertised budget on April 28 before formally adopting a final plan on May 5.
