Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services, Maine

05/19/2026

Did you know that 1 in 5 Mainers experience a mental illness each year?

This month we are grateful to the community organizations, peer support centers, behavioral health providers, and individuals who show up every day to share their lived experience, deliver services, break the stigma, and raise awareness about resources here in Maine.

To support this work, please consider a donation today to the The Maine Behavioral Health Foundation - MBHF:

https://thealliancemaine.org/maine-behavioral-health-foundation/

05/01/2026

This week, Alliance providers, partners, and legislative champions joined together for the signing of two important behavioral health bills into law. Thank you, Governor Janet Mills, for your support for mental health and substance use disorder services in Maine!

LD 721, sponsored by Rep. Annie Graham provides critical funding to expand same-day access to behavioral health services for thousands of Mainers through Maine's six Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs).

LD 2082, sponsored by State Representative Amy Kuhn protects Maine people, children, and families by introducing foundational guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence in mental health, ensuring that when Mainers seek care, they receive quality treatment and therapy from a real licensed professional.

Kennebec Behavioral Health MaineHealth Behavioral Health Spurwink Services Sweetser NASW Maine Chapter

04/28/2026

The Maine delegation team is 56 people strong this year at National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s NATCON26! We are doing so much learning and connecting here in Denver! Spurwink Services, Sweetser, Kennebec Behavioral Health,MaineHealth Behavioral Health, Community Caring Collaborative, Assistance Plus, Day One, Community Concepts, Community Health and Counseling Services, Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness

04/13/2026

🎉This weekend, the Appropriations Committee voted to approve funding for the full implementation of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) in Maine!🎉

✅This funding represents a significant step towards sustainably expanding CCBHCs across the state and ensuring that thousands of Mainers and Maine families can continue to access quality same-day mental health and substance use disorder treatment and services.

Thank you to Rep. Annie Graham for championing this legislation, to LD 721's co-sponsors Senator Marianne Moore, Representative Holly Stover, Rep. Deqa Dhalac, Rep. Dan Shagoury, Representative Flavia DeBrito, Julie McCabe for State Representative, Rep. Michael Brennan, and Rep. Kristen Cloutier, and to Representative Lucien Daigle.

We also want to recognize the leadership and support for CCBHCs and behavioral health access from Health and Human Services Committee Chairs Michele Meyer for Maine State Senate and Senator Henry Ingwersen as well as Appropriations Chairs State Representative Drew Gattine - Maine District 126 and Peggy Rotundo for Senate!

04/07/2026

"In effect, the system shifts from prevention to reaction. Instead of supporting children before problems escalate, services risk becoming available only after functioning deteriorates. These changes also raise concerns about consistency with the goals of the DOJ Settlement Agreement. They also raise serious questions under federal Medicaid law, which requires states to cover medically necessary services needed to correct or ameliorate children’s conditions."

Quiet changes could have serious consequences for young people with behavioral health conditions.

04/06/2026

“A portion of the money could be used to address immediate, life-saving needs...[and to] get to folks earlier on to prevent unnecessary emergency department visits or encounters with the criminal justice system."

4 years after settlement money started arriving, some recovery centers face funding cliffs as towns and counties deliberate — or in some cases hardly pay attention to — millions in unspent funds.

03/19/2026

Thank you Rep. Annie Graham and Representative Lucien Daigle for your bipartisan leadership in calling for the support of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) in Maine's Supplemental Budget!

"CCBHCs ensure that anyone who walks through the door can receive comprehensive mental health and substance use treatment. For many Mainers, particularly our children and those living in rural communities, these clinics are already proving to be a lifeline."

“By funding full implementation through LD 721, the Legislature can expand access to care, support rural communities, strengthen services for children and families, and help prepare our state for the growing behavioral health needs ahead.”

03/06/2026

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
Black Balloon Day is more than just a date on the calendar; it’s a silent promise to never forget those we’ve lost to substance use disorder and a loud call to end the stigma that keeps people in the shadows.

To anyone still fighting: You are seen, you are loved, and your story isn't over yet. To those who have lost a piece of their heart: We stand with you in remembrance.
Let’s keep the conversation going, spread awareness, and lead with compassion.

03/05/2026

Welcome to new Alliance member: True Connections Behavioral Health Services! 🎉

True Connections Behavioral Health Services is an integrated outpatient mental health and substance use treatment organization serving the Katahdin region of rural Maine.

True Connections provides psychiatric medication management, counseling, community integration services, and youth-focused programming to ensure coordinated, accessible care in underserved communities. Their work focuses on strengthening rural behavioral health systems, supporting workforce development, and reducing barriers to treatment close to home.

We are excited to welcome True Connections to the Alliance family and look forward to working with them to continue to advance access to quality behavioral health services across Maine!

03/03/2026

Alliance Advocacy Update: Health and Human Services Committee Unanimously Supports Key Behavioral Health Legislation in their Supplemental Budget Recommendation!

Thank you to Rep. Annie Graham and Julie McCabe for State Representative for their leadership and tireless advocacy in championing LD 721 and LD 2125. If included in the state's final budget, these bills would expand access to same-day mental health and SUD treatment services for thousands of Mainers and help keep more Maine children home.

And thank you to the Chairs, Ranking Members, and Legislators of the HHS Committee for their strong support and bipartisan prioritization of behavioral health in their budget report to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.

02/13/2026

Maine experienced 100 fewer overdose deaths in 2025 compared to 2024 (a 20% reduction).

There's so much more work to go, but this trend is a testament to the incredible, lifesaving work of Maine's recovery community and our SUD providers.

Expanded harm reduction efforts and the declining prevalence of fentanyl are fueling the trend, officials say.