Lawmakers Are Less Likely to Cut Funds When Charities Can Save Them Money

As Wyoming’s lawmakers were considering making cuts in mental-health programs, the Central Wyoming Counseling Center feared its state aid might suffer in the fiscal year that began July 1. David Monhollen, head of the center, which runs a residential treatment program for people with mental-health or substance-abuse problems, worried that the 4-percent cut under consideration would force him to trim some programs and lay off staff members, reducing the number of patients his group could serve when demand for help is rising.

So he decided to demonstrate to lawmakers why cutting his budget would end up costing the state and its residents more money in the long run. By showing them dollars and cents, and taking legislators on a tour of the center, he helped ensure that its budget wasn’t touched at all.

As a first step, Mr. Monhollen and members of his board put together reports filled with data that showed how the state can save money by helping drug addicts and mentally ill people when they first show signs of trouble instead of waiting until they need more expensive hospital care.

For example, says Mr. Monhollen, it costs Wyoming $700 to $1,000 a day to treat in a state hospital one person struggling with mental illness or addiction. But his group can provide outpatient treatment for $87 per day.

A Powerful Experience

Armed with that and other data, he invited Wyoming legislators to visit the center so he could explain in detail how each program works and how it has helped people with tough problems.

“I had only a vague notion before I went there of what they did,” says Tim Stubson, a Wyoming State representative. “I knew they dealt with substance-abuse issues, but I didn’t know the scope of their programs.”

He said he was especially surprised to learn how many teenagers got aid from the center, because he thought it mostly served adults. Visiting the center was especially powerful, Mr. Stubson says, noting that like many legislators at the state level, he has a full-time job (in his case, as a lawyer) and doesn’t have any staff members to brief him on local charities’ programs.

Spotlighting the cost savings and highlighting the center’s work proved successful. The Central Wyoming Counseling Center received as much from the state this fiscal year as it has in the past. Although Mr. Monhollen expects to battle more cuts in the near future, he says, he and his board now have time to plan ways to offset possible losses.

Mr. Stubson urges nonprofits to follow Mr. Monhollen’s approach so that when budget cuts are under debate, groups can “make sure that they’re not unduly singled out or bearing more of a burden than other agencies.” In particular, he says, nonprofits should show both the cost savings they can achieve by reducing what government and others pay for untreated problems, and the difference they make in helping troubled people get the aid they need to move on.

“If you can show you’re really helping people to change their lives,” says Mr. Stubson, “then it really doesn’t matter who your population is. You’re going to have a compelling case to make.”