Program Budget

The SAMH Program funds services to serve individuals and families at risk of or challenged by substance abuse and/or mental illnesses and who reside within the state. This population is further divided into sub-populations for each program office, recognizing that individuals may have co-occurring needs (a serious mental illness and substance abuse problem) who may be placed into either “co-occurring capable” or “co-occurring enhanced” programs.

Community-based SAMH services are outsourced, and have been since the program’s inception. The annual budget is allocated to each Region. The regional budget is allocated among Circuits primarily using an equity formula based on treatment need and population. At the circuit level, contracts are negotiated with managing entities or local providers for services to consumers within their respective areas.

Specific Estimates of Service Needs
The Substance Abuse Program Office uses the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) to calculate the number of children and adolescents in need of substance abuse services in each region. The survey is administered on an annual basis to middle school and high school students throughout Florida to determine prevalence of alcohol, illicit drug, tobacco, and prescription drug use. The alcohol and drug use rates are then applied against population figures by county to drive local services need figures. The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, estimates there are 321,622 children in need of services, it is estimated that approximately 33%, or 106,135, of those would seek services if available. In Fiscal Year 2009-2010, the Department served approximately 46% (49,172) of children through individualized services, leaving a treatment gap of 56,963 children that were unable to be served. Typically, an average of 200 children per month are on waiting lists for services.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is conducted annually by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to identify alcohol and drug use among adults in the United States. The Substance Abuse Program Office uses the state-specific prevalence estimates from the survey and calculates them against the adult population estimates for each county to derive the local prevalence numbers. As with the children’s prevalence figures, the adult figures are used as part of the methodology in the determination of budget allocations to each region. The NSDUH survey estimates there are 1,253,917 adults in need of individualized substance abuse services in Florida, of which 33% (413,793) adults would seek services if available. In FY 2009-2010, the Department provided services to approximately 33% of adults who would seek services (135,942), leaving a treatment gap of 277,851 adults that were unable to be served. There has been a waiting list of an average of 1,300 adults per month.

Funding Sources
SAMH services are funded primarily through the Federal Block Grant, other federal grants, state general revenue, and Medicaid resources (state and federal funds). The Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant currently funds approximately 50% of substance abuse services. Medicaid funds approximately 80% of children’s and 60% of adult mental health services. These funds are not under the authority of the SAMH program. However, the SAMH program staff continues to work closely with the state Medicaid authority, Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), in policy and program development.