OHIO — Gov. Mike DeWine announced Ohio will invest $90 million to strengthen mental health resources across the state. These dollars will support current programming, as well as establish new projects and research.

The $90 million investment will be going to 37 mental health programs and projects across the state.

These funds come from the American Rescue Plan and will go directly to the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction services.

Ohio MHAS is partnering with county Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) boards. Erika Clark Jones serves as the CEO of ADAMH Franklin County and said this investment allows for their teams to expand to help even more Ohioans.

“This recent award helps us to strengthen our mobile response in the community so that in the event someone's having a crisis related to mental health or to opioid addiction, we have a team that goes out and meets people where they are,” said Jones. “It's not just a police or public safety response. It's a mental health response where a clinician can be able to respond at any given time.”

On average, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline receives about 10,000 calls, texts and chats each month from the Ohio region, according to recent data.

Jones said mental health and substance abuse often go hand-in-hand, and this investment will address both.

“Those struggling with mental health conditions tend to turn to substance use, and substance use often turns to substance abuse,” said Jones. “So what we want to do is make sure that in the event there is a crisis associated with substance misuse,  the use of Naloxone boxes and the use of personnel, are readily available to respond.”

If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call 988 to get in touch with a trained professional who offers help and support 24/7.