Mental health funding coming to Maine after Lewiston mass shooting

LEWISTON — State representatives announced Friday that $2 million in mental health funding will be coming to the state in response to the shooting in Lewiston in October.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services will receive $2.05 million through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Emergency Response Grant program, according to a news release.

Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden made the announcement Friday afternoon.

The program is designed to meet emergency substance use and mental health needs for communities impacted by a precipitating emergency or disaster event, according to the release.

In this instance, the funding will be used for community mental health needs in the greater-Lewiston community, following the shooting that took place in October and claimed the lives of 18 individuals and wounded 13 others.

“In the wake of last year’s horrific shooting in Lewiston, this emergency funding from SAMHSA will help meet the mental health needs of those impacted by this tragedy,” the Maine delegation wrote in the release. “The people of Maine are resilient. While nothing we can do will bring back the lives lost, we will continue to work together with our state and federal partners to help ensure that Lewiston and surrounding communities have the resources and support needed to heal and recover.”

“This federal grant will catalyze Maine’s response to the significant behavioral health needs of those directly and indirectly impacted by the tragedy in Lewiston,” Gov. Janet Mills said in a separate release. “I thank President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration for their continued unwavering support for Lewiston and Maine as we continue down the road to healing.”

According to the DHHS, the grant “will supplement other state and federal funding for the response, helping to reinforce the on-the-ground behavioral health workforce, recovery for individuals and families affected by the tragedy, and community resilience in Lewiston and the surrounding communities.”

“Following the tragedy in Lewiston, we immediately set to work developing a plan based on input from Maine residents, communities, first responders, experts, and others to support ongoing behavioral health needs in the wake of the largest mass shooting in Maine history,” DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said.

Priorities for the funding are based on input from partners following a series of listening sessions that DHHS held with behavioral health providers, health care systems’ leadership, members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and new Mainer community, school staff, home-based providers, ethnic and community-based organizations, and other impacted parties. This funding will, according to the statement:

• Expand community-based behavioral health workforce: Funds will be used to increase the number of on-the-ground behavioral health professionals available to engage in mobile crisis outreach, peer harm reduction, and Project Support You – an initiative that supports first responders in deescalating emergency calls and assists with first responder debriefing following an incident.

• Launch a trauma-informed learning community: The learning community will provide training and skills for the workforce most directly connected to the populations affected by the shootings in Lewiston, including behavioral health and health care workers, educators, community workers, community officials and others. It will improve their ability to appropriately respond to and meet the needs of those they serve. The learning community also seeks to provide training to recognize and respond to front-line workers’ own traumas, helping to “care for the carers” by promoting trauma support and resiliency among the workforce.

• Raise awareness of behavioral health resources valuable to long-run resiliency: Maine DHHS will use funds to leverage its StrengthenME platform to help amplify awareness of existing behavioral health resources through tailored and targeted messages that help normalize and destigmatize reaching out for help with mental health.

• Support communications for priority populations: The grant will support the development of a website that consolidates community-developed and accessible information for members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community who were particularly hard hit by the Lewiston events. Funding will also support ethnic and community-based organizations focused on serving the new Mainer communities of Lewiston with whole-family, culturally appropriate support for the many individuals experiencing retraumatization.

“The events of Oct. 25, 2023, have had a dramatic impact on the health of our community, and have highlighted and exacerbated the need for more mental and behavioral health services,” said Jim Martin, CEO of Community Concepts Inc. in Lewiston, which manages the Maine Resiliency Center. “The SERG grant will allow for increased access to these critical supports and will help fill gaps in the system of care that are desperately needed. This additional funding comes at a critical time and complements all of the recovery efforts happening across our community including the work of the Maine Resiliency Center.”