BUFFALO, N.Y. — COVID-19 has shaken up so much of our day-to-day life and health experts believe the isolation, uncertainty and stress associated with the pandemic are likely connected to another crisis -- with upticks in opioid-related deaths and a greater demand for behavioral health services.
"We need to have more funding. We need to have more resources available to us to address this skyrocketing need in our community," said Ed Cichon, the Director of Marketing and Communications at Cazenovia Recovery.
But, instead, it appears the opposite is happening.
Cichon explained: "So about five weeks ago we heard from New York State that the division of budget was going to cut substance use treatment, prevention, and recovery programs across the state by 31 percent."
It's something local state lawmakers are aware of.
"Essentially what the state has said is that the state's portion of funding these entities, 31 percent of that would be withheld, pending the expectation, and hope that we're going to see some federal funding that we can then use to infuse and direct towards those providers," said Assemblymember Monica Wallace, who represents New York's 143rd Assembly District.
But there's still a lot of uncertainty, and in the meantime, Cichon told 2 on Your Side they're already feeling the impact.
"There's no way that programs can withstand that amount of funding loss when we've been funded the way that we have been for so long," Cichon said.
He added, "There's going to be tragedies left and right just because the state government and the federal government haven't funded us appropriately."
Assemblymember Karen McMahon told 2 on Your Side she understands the need for these programs to be adequately funded, but she believes the state can't do it alone.
Wednesday afternoon she sent a letter to U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand that made several requests related to the issue, calling for the next federal relief package to include funding for behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment.
"We felt it was really important to reach out to our federal delegation and ask them just not to forget behavioral health as they renegotiate their response to the pandemic," said McMahon, who represents New York's 146th Assembly District.
The letter reads in part, "Behavioral health treatment programs are the least able to absorb cuts, yet they are now being asked to shoulder the greatest financial burden. Simply stated, if funding is cut, people struggling with mental health and/or substance use disorders will find themselves in the criminal justice system, hospitalized, or dead from an overdose. We can and must do better."
Several other state lawmakers signed the letter, including Wallace.
Wallace told 2 On Your Side, "It's a year ago this month that I lost my 23-year-old nephew to an opioid overdose so I know how this impacts families on a very personal level and I want to do everything I can to make sure that we fully fund these organizations especially at a time when people need these services more than ever."
Cichon added, "We're hoping that we're able to be around to help support community members and people in need of services in the long term, but it all depends on what the state's willing to do and we really hope that the state and the federal government can do the right thing and fund programs like our appropriately."
We did reach out to the press line for New York's Division of the Budget for more information. We did not get an immediate response.