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Fairfax County could end funding for a wellness program that has helped more than 1,000 people with serious mental illnesses and substance use challenges manage their physical health.
County Executive Bryan Hill’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget would eliminate a $618,952 contract for BeWell, a partnership between the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board and Oakton-based HopeLink Behavioral Health.
The program connects people already receiving CSB services with HopeLink peer health coaches and medical care through county and nonprofit clinics, including Neighborhood Health and HealthWorks. Coaches work individually with clients on goals such as eating healthier, quitting smoking, managing diabetes and addressing other chronic conditions.
BeWell launched in 2015 with a grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Fairfax County has fully funded it since fiscal 2019, when the federal money expired. HopeLink says services have remained free for participants.
HopeLink CEO Joseph Getch said the program has helped coordinate behavioral and physical health care that might otherwise operate separately. He urged the Board of Supervisors to preserve the funding, warning that ending BeWell would reverse progress for residents who have benefited from it.
The CSB was already restructuring the program after losing grant support, according to county budget documents. Under the proposed replacement, the agency would establish an in-house smoking-cessation program and nurse-led education groups.
Getch said those services would not replicate a central part of BeWell: peer coaches whose own experiences with mental health or substance use challenges can help them connect with clients.
HopeLink could attempt to continue coaching by billing Medicaid, but Getch said roughly 20% of BeWell participants lack Medicaid coverage. He also said Medicaid’s reimbursement rate for peer-recovery services does not cover the program’s full cost.
Without the county partnership, he said, BeWell would probably serve fewer people and create access barriers for residents without Medicaid. Losing the ability to operate at CSB facilities could also make the program less accessible across Fairfax County.
A county spokesperson described the proposed restructuring as part of wider efforts to contain costs and direct limited resources while reducing the effects on residents. The spokesperson said growing demand and tighter resources are making current behavioral health and developmental-disability service levels increasingly difficult to sustain.
CSB faces $4.7 million in proposed reductions
The BeWell contract is one part of approximately $4.7 million in proposed CSB cuts for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
More than $2 million would be saved by moving people who currently receive locally funded developmental-disability services onto Medicaid waiver slots.
Other proposed reductions include $600,000 from replacing furniture only when needed, $519,354 from ending pandemic-era hiring bonuses and $292,232 from eliminating a vacant director position in the Intensive Community Treatment division.
The plan would also remove three positions, saving $165,683, that help high school seniors with developmental disabilities transition into community life. Fairfax County instead proposes giving Fairfax County Public Schools $400,000 to provide those services.
It remains unclear whether the school system would accept that responsibility. FCPS already faces a $43.8 million difference between Superintendent Michelle Reid’s requested county transfer and Hill’s proposal, following difficult cuts last year that included contractually promised employee raises.
Another $157,500 reduction would come from limiting repetitive laboratory tests and urine drug screenings now ordered for every patient. Under the proposal, the CSB would order only tests considered medically necessary. Spending on some contracted services and overtime would also decline.
County officials say the CSB’s staffing situation has improved. The agency had more than 200 vacant positions in 2022, but now has fewer than 100 full-time vacancies. Openings have averaged about 7% across program areas in recent months.
The county said sign-on bonuses helped attract applicants for difficult-to-fill jobs, with payments varying by position. With workforce stability improving after the pandemic, the CSB plans to keep monitoring hiring and retention trends.
Overall budget would remain above fiscal 2026 level
Hill’s proposal includes new CSB funding for higher employee compensation, additional support coordinators for Medicaid waivers, vehicle fuel and maintenance, and an expansion of the adult medication clinic at the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health in Merrifield.
After accounting for the proposed cuts, however, the CSB would receive about $1 million less than in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Its proposed $241 million budget would still exceed the approximately $224 million adopted for fiscal 2026.
Hill had instructed county agencies to identify possible reductions equal to 5% of their budgets. His advertised plan ultimately recommends $32.9 million in overall cuts, averaging 1.9% per agency.
Other proposed changes include eliminating high school crossing guards, reducing Fairfax Connector funding and cutting teen and community-center programming.
HopeLink staff and volunteers plan to press supervisors to retain BeWell during public budget hearings beginning around 4 p.m. Tuesday and continuing Wednesday and Thursday, April 15 and 16.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to revise the advertised budget on April 28 and adopt a final spending plan on May 5.