ALLENTOWN, PA — Pennsylvania’s 2026-27 budget provides the state’s first dedicated funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, committing $10 million to expand round-the-clock crisis response and another $5 million to preserve walk-in behavioral health stabilization centers.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh outlined the investments Friday during a visit to the Lehigh County Crisis Intervention Center in Allentown. The stabilization-center funding will prioritize regions with limited access to immediate, in-person behavioral health care.
The 988 allocation will allow DHS to double the number of Pennsylvania centers handling text and chat contacts from three to six. It will also support continuous operations at all 988 centers and help counties coordinate “warm handoffs” from 911 operators to crisis specialists.
The spending addresses a gap in Pennsylvania’s crisis-response system as demand for telephone, text and in-person services increases.
“We’re treating mental health with just as much care as physical health,” Shapiro stated, pointing to the new 988 and walk-in center funding as part of the administration’s broader effort to improve access to crisis care.
Pennsylvania operates 14 individual 988 call centers. The Lehigh County facility provides telephone counseling, walk-in crisis care and mobile outreach around the clock.
Lehigh County handled more than 6,400 crisis cases in 2025, while its 988 service received approximately 3,500 calls over the past year. Crisis counselor Craig Taylor reported that 99% of calls were resolved without dispatching police or first responders and without sending the caller to a hospital.
Arkoosh described the funding as part of an integrated system intended to provide rapid treatment in less restrictive settings.
“We are dedicated to ensuring that all Pennsylvanians have access to immediate behavioral health crisis care — in the least restrictive and the most therapeutic environments available,” Arkoosh stated.
The budget continues $222.4 million in county mental health base funding after the administration secured $40 million in increases across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budgets, the first increases since 2008. The administration also reports helping nearly 800 schools expand mental health services, including hiring more than 200 counselors.
Separate provisions double state support for rape crisis centers to $24.17 million and continue $100 million annually for mental health and school safety programs in Pennsylvania’s K-12 schools.
Shapiro ceremonially signed the General Appropriations Bill during Friday’s visit.
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