We encourage anyone interested in services for mental illness and substance-use disorders to attend the Mississippi Joint Planning and Advisory Council virtually or in person on August 14, from 10 a.m. to noon.
All fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and six Pacific jurisdictions receive Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) funds to provide community mental health services. The federal government distributes these funds to help adults with serious mental illnesses and children with severe emotional disturbances.
The federal government requires states to establish councils comprised of people who use services, their families and other interested people. Those councils help decide how to use these funds to help adults and children affected by mental illness and substance use disorders. The council gets feedback from the community to help make its decisions. Mississippi’s council meets this Thursday, August 14th, from 10 a.m. to noon at Mississippi State Hospital. You can attend the meeting in person or virtually. Here is the link to join the meeting virtually.
The council will discuss the Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH) Combined Block Grant Application for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) block grants. SAMHSA oversees two major block grants: the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) and the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services Block Grant (SUBG). These block grants give states maximum flexibility to address the mental and substance use disorder needs of their populations.
Anyone can comment publicly on DMH’s block grant application (DOCX file), and we encourage you to read and comment regardless of whether you attend the planning council meeting. You can comment on things in the plan or things you think should be in the plan.
Mississippi is submitting a state plan for the MHBG and a state plan for the SUBG, but only a single Combined Block Grant Application (DOCX file), which is available for public comment 30 days before its final submission to SAMHSA. The final Combined Block Grant Application is due to SAMHSA on September 1, 2025. If you would like to leave comments on the application, please email August Irving at august.irving@dmh.ms.gov. DMH and the council thank you for reviewing the FFY 2026-2027 Combined Block Grant Application.
Families as Allies thanks DMH for sharing its information about this public comment period. We quoted some of this language from an email from State Blick Grant Planner August Irving.
