Maricopa County awards Valleywise Health $16M for mental health services

PHOENIX – Metro Phoenix officials on Wednesday awarded $16 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to expand mental health care services through Valleywise Health.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors allocated the American Rescue Plan Act dollars through an intergovernmental agreement that was approved last week by the Maricopa County Special Health Care District Board, which oversees Valleywise Health.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased demands for mental health care across our county,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers said in a press release.

“These new resources, provided by Valleywise Health, reflect our commitment to expanding access to behavioral health services to everyone in need.”

The funding will be used to expand services for individuals with serious mental illness to the West Valley. Valleywise Health already provides such services in the East Valley.

In addition, the Mesa Valleywise Health Behavioral Health Center will undergo a renovation and expansion to allow for additional outpatient services.

“We recognize the need to strengthen these services for minority populations and in economically disadvantaged communities,” Mary Rose Wilcox, chairwoman of the county special health care district board, said in the release.

“We are thankful for the support of Maricopa County and look forward to working with them to address these local needs, which have become even more urgent in the past 18 months.”

Maricopa County has an online dashboard that tracks its American Rescue Plan Act spending. As of Oct. 29, according to the dashboard, the county had spent about $46.4 million of its $435 million ARPA grant, while more than $410 million had been allocated.

The county has targeted 7% of the funds for behavioral health and addiction recovery, according to the dashboard. The largest cut, 39%, is going to the COVID-19 public health response.

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