Arisa Health Ends 55‑Year Contract Over Funding Gap

Arisa Health, the organization that runs community mental health centers across 41 Arkansas counties, decided not to bid for a new state contract when its current agreement ends. The choice comes after the agency has faced rising costs and shrinking public money for more than five decades. The centers serve uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid patients and others who cannot afford care. Arisa has historically filled funding shortfalls to keep services open, but the latest contract bid cut about $4. 4 million from the budget and offered no fixes for the problems Arisa highlighted. Key complaints include too low reimbursement rates, inadequate adjustments for inflation and population growth, and a workforce crisis caused by wage increases. Without higher pay, the agency says it cannot attract or keep mental‑health professionals.Although most of Arisa’s 13 outpatient clinics will stay open, the organization plans to shut some locations and stop providing mobile crisis, forensic restoration, and incarcerated‑person services after June 30. The clinics will continue to act as hubs for the 41 counties it serves. Arisa’s CEO emphasized that, despite the shift in funding, the organization remains committed to high‑quality care for those who need it most. The agency stresses that its decisions protect its mission, staff, communities, and clients. Meanwhile, Washington County is debating an ordinance that would allocate county money to pay Arisa for mental‑health services in a pretrial program aimed at reducing recidivism. The county’s finance committee postponed the ordinance to a later meeting, and no payments have yet been made for 2026. The county’s sheriff and the detention center are now searching for a new mental‑health provider as Arisa steps back from those roles.