Mental health clinics angle for a spot in Biden budget bill

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An innovative program to help people with mental health and substance abuse problems is being primed for a major expansion as the COVID-19 pandemic deepens struggles with drug use, depression and anxiety for many Americans. Community behavioral health clinics offer comprehensive services designed to catch people falling into crisis, pull them back, and help them stay stable. The clinics got launched in the Obama administration, and not only survived the Trump years, but actually got scaled up. Now, as Democrats haggle over a mammoth budget bill to enact President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, backers are trying to splice in a major expansion. But with so many competing priorities, nothing is guaranteed.