$1 Million for Substance Use Treatment in Northern and Eastern Maine Secured by Senator Collins

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, announced today that she secured $1,000,000 to expand access to residential substance use treatment in the Fiscal Year 2022 Health and Human Services Appropriations bill.  

The omnibus funding package passed the House and the Senate and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“Northern Maine is experiencing an influx of individuals looking for help battling substance use disorders, but bed-shortages and waitlists for care can be a significant roadblock to receiving treatment,” said Senator Collins.  “Expanding and upgrading AMHC’s residential treatment facility will allow more Mainers to receive treatment.  I strongly advocated for this investment to help AMHC serve Mainers struggling with addiction.”

“AMHC is extremely grateful to Senator Collins for advocating on behalf of our residential treatment facility,” said Ellen Bemis, CEO. “Despite the need in our region, AMHC is unable to expand the number of clients it serves due to the restrictions at our current location. This appropriation allows AMHC to relocate to a building that will also serve more clients and offer them a better experience of care, including private meeting rooms, spaces for new programming and a designated exercise area. Thanks to Senator Collins, more individuals will be provided with the resources they need to address their substance use disorder.”

For more than 57 years, AMHC, a nonprofit organization, has provided mental health and substance use services to more than 5,500 clients annually in Aroostook, Washington, and Hancock counties.  The agency has 26 service sites and employs 325 staff offering mental health, substance use, crisis, and sexual assault services. Pre-pandemic, AMHC’s Residential Treatment Facility in Limestone assisted up to 150 individuals per year. 

AMHC will use this funding to upgrade and expand its residential treatment facility to meet the community’s increased demand for services.  As one of only two residential treatment facilities in Maine, AMHC’s ability to expand its bed capacity by a minimum of 25% and make the facility fully ADA-accessible will be an important step toward reducing the number of overdose deaths in Maine. 

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