Following the President’s February 4th release of the FY 2009 budget, Congress has begun its work on the budget process.  Committees in the House and the Senate conducted a number of hearings on the budget before adjourning for the Presidents’ Day recess. 

Under the President’s FY 2009 request, programs in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would receive funding cuts of $198 million, with nearly $99 million in cuts proposed to discretionary funding in the Centers for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, and $126 million in proposed cuts to the Center for Mental Health Services.  

SAMHSA budget documents have provided additional detail about the funding cuts and increases proposed in the FY 2009 budget.  Under the President’s FY 2009 budget, drug and alcohol prevention, treatment and recovery support programming would receive the following amounts:

• The Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant would receive $1.779 billion, a $20 million increase over FY 2008 levels. However, budget documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicate that this $20 million increase would be used to support supplemental performance awards for the top 20 percent of SAPT Block Grant recipients that demonstrate superior performance in preventing and treatment substance abuse through the National Outcome Measures (NOMs). To receive an award, grantees would have to meet superior performance as determined by the HHS Secretary. Top performing grantees receiving $21 million or greater in their prior year award could receive up to $2.5 million; those grantees receiving less than $21 million for their prior year award could receive up to $1.5 million.

• The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) would receive $336.7 million, a decrease of $63 million from FY 2008.

The FY 2009 funding recommendation for CSAT would include:

• $99.7 million to support twenty-four Access to Recovery (ATR) grantees and an evaluation of the program, funding level to FY 2008;

• $37.8 million for drug treatment courts, which would represent a $27.9 million increase over last year’s funding;

• $56 million for substance use screening and brief interventions in medical and other community settings; the Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program received $29 million in FY 2008; and

• $8.6 million for the Addiction Technology Transfer Centers (ATTCs), a proposed cut of $478,000.

Under the CSAT budget proposal, funding for a number of programs in the Center’s Programs of Regional and National Significance would be eliminated or significantly cut.  Within CSAT, the Capacity category of programming would receive $322.7 million under the budget, a proposed cut of $48.5 million.  The Science and Service category of programming would receive $14.1 million, a proposed cut of $14.5 million. The CSAT budget includes requests to eliminate funding for:

• The Recovery Community Support Program (RCSP), a proposed cut of $5.2 million; 

• Children and Families programming, a proposed cut of $24.3 million; 

• The Pregnant and Postpartum Women program, a proposed cut of $11.8 million; and 

• The Minority Fellowship Program, a proposed cut of $536,000.

Additional programs receiving cuts include: the Treatment Systems for the Homeless program, which would receive $32.6 million, a proposed cut of $9.9 million, and Opioid Treatment Programs/Regulatory Activities, which would receive $6 million, a proposed cut of $2.9 million.

• The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) would receive $158 million, a decrease of $36 million from last year’s funding.

Under the CSAP budget proposal, funding for a number of programs in the Center’s Programs of Regional and National Significance would be eliminated or significantly cut.  Within CSAP, the Capacity category of programming would receive $144.8 million under the budget, a proposed cut of $22.7 million.  The Science and Service category of programming would receive $13.2 million, a proposed cut of $13.4 million. The FY 2009 funding recommendation for CSAP would include:

• $95.4 million for Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) State Incentive Grants to support 42 grants to States and Tribal organizations to implement the Strategic Prevention Framework, representing a cut of $9.3 million; and

• $7 million for new grants aimed at addressing emerging prevention needs identified by State and local communities.

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The CSAP budget includes requests to eliminate funding for:

• The Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking (STOP) Act, a $5.4 million proposed cut;

• The Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies, a $8.5 million proposed cut;

• Best Practices Program Coordination, a $4.8 million proposed cut; and

• The Minority Fellowship Program, a $60,000 million proposed cut.

Additional prevention and research programming would receive the following funding under the FY 2009 budget:

• The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) State Grants program, which supports community-based prevention programming through the Department of Education, would receive $100 million, a decrease of $194.8 million. 

• The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) would receive $1.002 billion, a nearly $1 million increase over FY 2008. 

• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) would receive $436.68 million, a $0.4 million increase over last year’s funding.

The President’s entire FY 2009 budget can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/. 

SAMHSA’s Congressional Justification, which details the agency’s budget request, can be found at: http://www.samhsa.gov/Budget/FY2009/SAMHSA_CJ2009.pdf. 

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President Bush’s FY 2009 budget, released on February 4th, proposes a number of significant changes to programs in the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Similar to the President’s FY 2008 budget, funding for several key programs in the DOJ that provide services to people with criminal histories and/or addiction treatment needs would be consolidated into one grant program under the President’s budget.  However, last year Congress rejected a similar Administration proposal to consolidate these DOJ programs into four large competitive programs. 

Under the FY 2009 request, the Byrne Public Safety and Protection Program would receive $200 million and include the following programs:

• The Byrne Justice Grant (JAG) program, which funds programs providing a number of different prevention, education, community corrections and drug treatment services.  Last year, this program received $170.4 million in appropriations, a cut of approximately $350 million from the previous year.

• The Drug Court program, which provides financial and technical assistance to State and local governments and courts to develop and implement treatment drug courts.  In FY 2008, this program received $15.2 million.

• The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, which helps States and localities to develop and implement residential addiction treatment programs in State and local correctional and detention facilities.  Last year, this program received $9.4 million.

• The Mentally Ill Offender Act program, which is designed to facilitate collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice, mental health, and addiction treatment systems to improve responses to people with mental illnesses involved in the criminal justice system.  In FY 2008, this program received $6.5 million.

Additionally, the President’s FY 2009 budget proposes that the remaining DOJ programs be consolidated into three other larger grant programs.  One of those programs, the Child Safety and Juvenile Justice Grant, would include the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program.  Under the FY 2009 budget, the entire Child Safety and Juvenile Justice Grant would receive $164 million.  Last year, the EUDL program received $25 million. 

The Congressional Budget Committees are expected to continue hearings on the President’s FY 2009 Budget after the Presidents’ Day recess during the week of February 25th.  Congress will begin developing its own budget in the coming months.  More information on the FY 2009 Budget can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/ and http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/2009justification/.

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On February 7th, the House approved legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA) by a 354 to 58 vote.  The legislation, H.R. 4137, includes provisions to authorize a grant program aimed at expanding and strengthening postsecondary educational opportunities for people incarcerated in State correctional facilities. 

Under H.R. 4137, the Secretary of Education would be required to establish a program to State correctional education agencies to help incarcerated people acquire educational and job skills through:

• Coursework to prepare students to take college-level courses; The pursuit of a postsecondary education certificate, or an associate or bachelor’s degree, provided by a regionally or nationally accredited body while in prison; and

• Employment counseling and other related services which start during incarceration and end no later than one year after release.

Educational services would start during the period of incarceration or pre-release and would end at the individual’s release.  Related services would also start during incarceration but could continue for a year following an individual’s release.

State correctional education agencies applying for grant funds would be required to submit a proposal for an incarcerated individual program that: 

• Identifies the scope of the problem, including the number of incarcerated individuals in need of postsecondary education and vocational training 

• Lists the accredited public or private educational institutions with campuses established outside the prison facility that will provide postsecondary preparatory or educational services 

• Lists the cooperating private and public agencies or businesses that will provide related services, such as career development, addiction treatment, and other health services 

• Describes performance goals and evaluation methods, including specific outcome measures 

• Describes how the proposed programs would be integrated with existing State and federal correctional education programs and how they will use technology to deliver services

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The Secretary of Education would be required to provide each grantee with up to $3,000 annually for each eligible student.  These funds could be used for tuition, books and other essential materials; in addition, States would also be authorized to receive up to $300 annually per eligible student for related services, including career development, addiction treatment counseling, parenting skills training, and health education.  The legislation authorizes that such sums as may be necessary could be appropriated for each of the next five fiscal years. 

Language to authorize this post-secondary education grant program for incarcerated people was offered as an amendment to H.R. 4137 by Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL), Mark Souder (R-IN), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and Donald Payne (D-NJ) during review of the bill in the House Education and Labor Committee. 

The Senate has approved its version of HEA reauthorization, which does not include the above-described post-secondary education grant program.  Members of the House and Senate will likely meet to reconcile differences between the two pieces of legislation later this winter.  Status and text of H.R. 4137 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/. 

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Recently, legislation seeking to improve the reintegration of young people reentering the community from incarceration was introduced in Congress.  “The First Step Forward Act of 2007,” S. 2451, was introduced in December by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).  In January, a companion piece of legislation, H.R. 5178, the “Youth Reentry Improvement Act of 2008,” was introduced in the House by Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).   

Both bills would amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) to require that States have procedures to ensure that each adjudicated juvenile has a written case plan describing the pre- and post-release programs and services that would be provided to the juvenile.  The case plan would be required to include a description of the juvenile’s planned living arrangement upon release, and a plan for enrolling the juvenile in post-release programs, including those providing educational, vocational, substance abuse prevention, mental health and other services.  In addition, they would amend the JJDPA to require that States collect and report outcome data for reentering youth in the areas of housing, education, employment, health, drug and alcohol addiction, and family reunification.

The bills would also authorize a $200 million per-year Department of Justice grant program to the States to enhance pre- and post-release services to reentering youth.  These services could include:

• substance abuse prevention, mental health counseling, and preventative health activities, including HIV/AIDS prevention

• education, training and services necessary to obtain employment and housing

• making available post-release vouchers for postsecondary education and training

• applying for income assistance, health insurance, proof of identity, drivers licenses, and vital records for which the youth may be eligible

• daily living skills, parenting skills, budgeting and financial management skills

Additionally, the bills would:

• Authorize a $60 million State educational and training voucher program aimed at helping young people reentering from incarceration finance higher education  

• Amend the Social Security Act to require that States suspend, instead of terminate, Medicaid eligibility for enrolled individuals under the age of 21 during their period of confinement

After its introduction, the “First Step Forward Act of 2007” was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary where the legislation awaits review.  The “Youth Reentry Improvement Act of 2008” is awaiting review in the House Judiciary, Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce Committees.  Additional co-sponsors of H.R. 5178 include: Representatives Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Donald Payne (D-NJ), and Yvette Clarke (D-NY). The status and text of both S. 2451 and H.R. 5178 can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/.   

For further information, please contact: Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, Deputy Director for National Policy, at gdelagueronniere@lac-dc.org or Nisha Thakker, Policy Associate, at nthakker@lac.org.

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