Maryland will slash mental health and addiction services amid budget cuts

Though they remain in high demand, state-funded services that prevent overdoses and mental health crises may be cut as Maryland contends with a budget crunch.

Advocates say this puts some programs at risks that have been helpful in preventing behavioral health emergencies, including drug-related deaths, a declining but profound problem for the state.

Programs that could face cuts include an increasingly used suicide and crisis hotline, support for people with addiction from others in recovery and case management that ensures people get services they need. The Maryland Department of Health distributes the funding to Baltimore City and counties for daily programming that is free or low cost for users.

The changes came at the July 1 start to the fiscal year.

State officials didn’t answer questions about how deep the cuts will go or how local authorities are expected to manage them, characterizing them as “right-sized to reflect actual spending in previous years.”

Amanda Hils, spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health, said officials would work “collaboratively and transparently” with local officials.

She also said the health department plans to help ensure cuts “reflect local priorities and community needs, align with the state’s core priorities to provide critical behavioral health services to vulnerable Marylanders, and preserve critical oversight and direct services functions.”

Hils said the department recognizes the value and importance of the critical programs and services, but she said there is a need to balance “fiscal challenges” affecting the state.

She said officials did not anticipate additional funding changes for these types of services this year.

Maryland lawmakers passed the $71 billion fiscal 2027 budget this year that covered shortfalls for everything from education to agency staffing by making cuts across the state and taking other steps to avoid raising taxes.

The cuts could threaten the momentum on overdose prevention in Baltimore, which has been at the center of a yearslong crisis that is just starting to abate.

State data showed there was a 25% decrease in fatal drug overdoses in 2025, when more than 1,300 people died from overdosing. A similar drop was recorded in Baltimore, which has had the worst overdose crisis of any major American city.

The cuts would be directed at a range of behavioral health services not covered by Medicaid, the state health program for low-income residents, said Adrienne Breidenstine, vice president of policy and communications for Behavioral Health System Baltimore, which operates the city’s 988 crisis helpline.

“These community-based services help to keep people in need of behavioral health care out of jails and emergency departments by connecting them to a range of treatment and recovery supports in the community,” she said.