FY25 Budget Testimony: Department of Behavioral Health
Children’s Law Center Path Forward Project Lead Amber Rieke testified before the DC Council’s Committee on Health regarding the Department of Behavioral Health’s budget for FY 2025. Amber urged the Council to: fortify the School-Based Behavioral Health (SBBH) program by adequately compensating clinicians; maintain funding for the Healthy Futures program; increase DBH payments to community-based behavioral health providers; and reinstate funding for 24/7 ChAMPS service and preserve dedicated non-police response to behavioral health crisis calls.
Learn about Our Behavioral Health Work
Although tens of thousands of DC children have behavioral health needs, only a fraction of them actually receive timely supports and services. At Children’s Law Center, we know that many of the children we work with – including children in the foster care system or receiving special education services – only need our help because their needs have gone unaddressed.