Mississippi: Behavioral Health News
Mississippi faces evolving challenges in behavioral health care access, workforce capacity, and policy reform. Below is a running tracker of Mississippi therapy, mental health, and behavioral health policy developments from 2025 and 2026.
June 2026
June 28, 2026 — Mississippi selected for federal CCBHC demonstration to expand 24/7 crisis and outpatient therapy
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services selected Mississippi to join the federal CCBHC Medicaid demonstration program, delivering dedicated prospective payment funding to modernize state mental health clinics and mobile crisis teams.
Source: Mississippi Department of Mental Health
June 2026
June 18, 2026 — The Mississippi Board of Mental Health appoints Teresa Mosley as Chair and Dr. Sara Gleason as Vice Chair for Fiscal Year 2027.
The Mississippi Board of Mental Health elected Teresa Mosley as board chair and Dr. Sara Gleason as vice chair for FY2027, effective July 1, 2026. Mosley, who represents Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District, brings extensive educational testing expertise, while Dr. Gleason is a professor of psychiatry and assistant vice chancellor for clinical affairs at UMMC. The new leadership team will guide the Department of Mental Health through the rollout of federal CCBHC Medicaid demonstration models and hospital-based EmPATH psychiatric crisis units.
May 2026
May 28, 2026 — Mississippi is selected as one of 10 states for the federal Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Medicaid demonstration program.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Mississippi’s inclusion in the federal Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Medicaid Demonstration Program to expand access to comprehensive mental health and substance use care. The program provides a sustainable prospective payment system for clinics offering 24/7 crisis response, outpatient therapy, and recovery supports across the state. Mississippi will build out its CCBHC infrastructure between July 2026 and July 2027 to transition community mental health centers toward long-term Medicaid financing.
April 2026
April 29, 2026 — Governor Tate Reeves launches the Mississippi Rural Health Transformation Program Office to manage $206 million in federal health and behavioral health grants.
Governor Tate Reeves established a centralized program office and web portal for the state’s $206 million Rural Health Transformation Program, appointing former Mississippi Hospital Association executive Richard Grimes as project director. The multi-year initiative focuses on bolstering rural healthcare infrastructure, expanding telehealth services, and deploying Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing (EmPATH) units to divert behavioral health crises from hospital emergency rooms. The program aims to address severe provider shortages and improve rural mental health care access across Mississippi by 2031.
Source: https://www.supertalk.fm/gov-reeves-announces-office-website-for-206m-rural-health-initiative/
April 17, 2026 — Mississippi State University-Meridian opens a new Mental and Behavioral Health Clinic to expand outpatient care in East Mississippi.
Mississippi State University-Meridian held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate its new outpatient Mental and Behavioral Health Clinic in downtown Meridian. Supported by a $2.5 million federal SAMHSA grant and local foundation gifts, the facility offers outpatient therapy for children, adolescents, and adults experiencing depression, anxiety, and trauma. The clinic is open to the general public, accepts Medicaid and commercial insurance, and serves as a clinical training facility for psychology graduate students to help address rural behavioral health workforce shortages.
April 9, 2026 — Governor Tate Reeves signs Senate Bill 3072 appropriating over $718 million for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health for Fiscal Year 2027.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed Senate Bill 3072 into law, enacting a $718.9 million budget for the Department of Mental Health for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026. The legislation allocates $268 million from the state General Fund and $450 million in special funds to support regional crisis stabilization units, Medicaid state share payments, and community-based mental health programs. The bill also funds facility infrastructure improvements, including capital support for youth psychiatric residential treatment centers.
Source: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/SB/SB3072.xml
February 2026
February 4, 2026 — Governor Tate Reeves signs House Bill 3 to reform Certificate of Need regulations for psychiatric facilities and beds.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed House Bill 3 into law, making targeted legislative reforms to the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) healthcare regulations. The bill removes Medicaid participation restrictions on a 40-bed psychiatric residential treatment facility in DeSoto County and mandates a state health department study on exempting small hospitals from CON review for geriatric psychiatric units. The reform aims to reduce regulatory hurdles that constrain the expansion of inpatient mental health beds across rural communities.
Source: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB0003.xml
August 2025
August 11, 2025 — Governor Tate Reeves announces a $16 million digital youth mental health platform partnership with Canopy Children’s Solutions.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Development Authority announced a $16 million federal CDBG-funded initiative to roll out the “Canopy Anywhere” digital mental health platform across 29 public school districts. Designed for middle and high school students in low-to-moderate-income areas for the 2025-2026 school year, the system offers real-time mental health screening, evidence-based wellness curricula, and direct connections to teletherapy. The program aims to address youth behavioral health needs in underserved rural school districts lacking on-site mental health professionals.
March 2025
March 31, 2025 — The University of Southern Mississippi receives a $2.3 million SAMHSA grant to establish the state’s first youth psychosis prevention program.
The University of Southern Mississippi Center for Behavioral Health was awarded a four-year, $2.3 million grant from SAMHSA to launch the CBH-SOAR program (Screening, Outreach, Assessment and Resilience). Partnering with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and Mississippi State University, the project provides early intervention and specialized therapy to youth and young adults aged 14–25 showing early signs of clinical high risk for psychosis. The program utilizes doctoral psychology trainees to deliver care statewide and reduce delays between symptom onset and clinical intervention.
Source: https://www.usm.edu/news/2025/release/samhsa-grant-psychosis-prevention.php
March 18, 2025 — Governor Tate Reeves signs House Bill 807 creating the Division of Autism Services within the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
Governor Tate Reeves signed House Bill 807 into law, establishing a dedicated Division of Autism Services within the Mississippi Department of Mental Health’s Bureau of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The new division centralizes statewide autism resources, connects families with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and respite care providers, and conducts ongoing evaluations of provider shortages. The initiative focuses on expanding pediatric diagnostic capacity and improving community-based support services for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Source: https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2025/pdf/history/HB/HB0807.xml
This page is updated as new Mississippi behavioral health developments occur. Items are sourced from public primary sources — if we cannot link it, we do not post it.