AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services no longer plans to cut money from mental health and substance abuse agencies.
However, questions remain about the funding mistake that prompted the warning of cuts and whether money needs to be made up somewhere else.
DHHS notified mental health and substance abuse agencies late last month to prepare for a 4.3 percent reduction in several of their contracts because the department made a mistake in funding.
“The commissioner’s office reviewed this matter and does not anticipate enacting any such reductions, and the department has notified providers to that effect,” DHHS spokesman John Martins said in a statement released late Thursday evening.
Martins did not immediately respond to emails seeking more information Friday morning.
The news last month surprised and concerned providers who set their budgets based on DHHS contracts.
The department wouldn’t say how much money needed to be made up, but those involved believe a 4.3 percent cut worked out to between $800,000 and $1.6 million.
The department also refused to provide any details about the mistake that resulted in the proposed the cuts.
On Thursday, a DHHS official met with mental health providers and told them cuts likely wouldn’t be as severe as 4.3 percent, but he did not provide a new figure.
That evening, the department told providers there would be no cuts at all.
In an email to providers, a DHHS official said the August notice was “sent prematurely and prior to a commissioner’s office review of the matter.”
“We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience it caused,” he added
Tri-County Mental Health Services in Lewiston stood to lose about $75,000 under a 4.3 percent cut. Executive Director Catherine Ryder called the department’s reversal “very good news.”
“It’s the best news possible,” she said.