The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) is sounding the alarm over a serious issue in the United States, with the organization warning about what it has described as a “capacity crisis.”
NCPG Addresses Capacity Crisis in US Problem Gambling
The idea is that there is a strong mismatch between how much is allocated to spending and how much is allocated to funding when it comes to US gambling harm support. The NCPG made the remarks in a report from the National Association of Administrators for Disordered Gambling Services (NAADGS).
The report indicated that less than half of states reported spending at least five percent below their budgets.
The issue is that while money is being allocated actively to tackle problem gambling issues and strengthen consumer safety mechanisms, the underlying issue remains: the infrastructure is lacking, and there is nowhere to spend the money.
NCPG board president Derek Longmeier explained that the issue was indeed the lack of capacity, which was “hiding” behind a budget line. “That is not a funding success story. That is a capacity crisis hiding behind a budget line,” he argued.
“The states that are underspending their problem gambling budgets aren’t telling us they have too much money. They’re telling us they don’t yet have the system to use it. It’s on all of us — states, providers, and the federal government — to build that system before more allocations are eliminated on the theory that the need wasn’t real.”
Longmeier has argued that there is no way for states to just pile more money on the current issues that the system faces – its lack of trained cadres or even a clear blueprint for how the money spent on safer gambling can be utilized in a way that actually helps strengthen safeguards and drives results.
States and the Public Need a Unified and Strong Response to Problem Gambling
The lack of infrastructure then creates other challenges. Because there is underspending, this automatically triggers scrutiny, which is another counterproductive practice that does not help move forward player protections, nor does it address underlying problem gambling issues.
The NCPG has argued that problem gambling should not be treated as a “single item,” but as a challenge that requires a unified and structured response. Longmeier described problem gambling as “a behavioural health condition that deserves the same integrated response we’ve built, however imperfectly, for substance use disorders.”
The board president also urged frequent and routine screening for problem gambling in primary care and behavioral health settings, urging a more structured change to how the issue is pursued in the public sector, rather than remaining reactive.