A lack of funding for mental health services in Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s 2025 proposed state budget disappoints Minnesota’s mental health advocacy organizations.
Walz and Flanagan’s proposed state budget, released Jan. 16, cut state spending across the board with the budget totaling around $4.8 billion less than the 2024 budget, according to data from Minnesota Management and Budget. The 2025 budget proposal includes no funding increases for mental health services.
Sue Abderholden, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota Branch, said it was distressing to learn mental health services such as therapy and crisis intervention that work are not seeing increased funding in the proposed budget.
“I like to say that our mental health system isn’t broken,” Abderholden said. “It was never built.”
Programs like School-Linked Behavioral Health Services, which places mental health care providers in Minnesota schools, will lose around $5 million in funding when the state’s fiscal year ends June 30, Shannah Mulvihill, executive director of Mental Health Minnesota, said. Mobile crisis intervention services face a significant reduction of about $8 million in funds at the end of the fiscal year.
Audio-only telehealth services, which offer rural residents in Minnesota better access to medical care, were one of the only healthcare services receiving additional funding in Walz and Flanagan’s budget.
Mulvihill said it was disappointing, though unsurprising, that mental health programs like School-Linked and crisis intervention remain underfunded in Minnesota amid a national mental health crisis.
“That’s really concerning because all we’re going to do is set the system back instead of moving forward,” Mulvihill said.
The rate of U.S. adults 18 or older who experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression nearly tripled from 2019 to 2022, the two most common mental health conditions in adults, according to a 2024 report from the CDC. The report also found that young adults ages 18-29 experience symptoms of anxiety and depression the most frequently out of any adult age group.
Fourth-year student Whitney Le, former president of now-defunct student group Student Acknowledge Mental Illness, said she has noticed herself and her peers struggle with anxiety and depression more after the pandemic.
Mulvihill said Mental Health Minnesota and other mental health advocacy organizations plan to lobby for funding for School-Linked and crisis intervention services to be added to the budget before it takes effect on July 1.
Le said ensuring therapy sessions and community building are easily accessible for all college students is important for promoting their mental well-being.
“I would hope for, in terms of how to support students, would be more resources towards those, I think, making it more accessible to students,” Le said.
Mulvihill said the non-emergency 988 number Mental Health Minnesota monitors is used by teenagers and young adults the most.
Medicaid insurance coverage rates for mental health services are low right now, Mulvihill said. When coverage rates are low, and without state funding for mental health programs and services, care providers close, mental health care professionals go underpaid and more pressure is put on an already strained system.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the system in general, because what happens when we have fewer providers and fewer services available sort of on the upstream end is it puts a lot more pressure on our inpatient and emergency department use because that’s where people land,” Mulvihill said.
If you are struggling with your mental health, you can call or text 988, a non-emergency phone number for help.
