HHS Awards CCHBC Preparing Grants to 15 States Aid Address Ongoing Mental Well being Crisis

Note to reporters and editors: Video b-roll of a CCBHC is accessible for download and use in reporting, courtesy of the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Solutions (HHS).

The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Solutions (HHS), by means of the Substance Abuse and Mental Well being Solutions Administration (SAMHSA), these days awarded 15 states each and every with $1 million, 1-year Certified Neighborhood Behavioral Well being Clinic (CCBHC) arranging grants. This announcement marks the initial time these arranging grants have been accessible considering the fact that the system started in 2015.

The 15 states chosen are Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia. In 2024, up to ten of these will participate in the CCBHC Medicaid demonstration system and get enhanced Medicaid reimbursement.

“The expansion of Certified Neighborhood Behavioral Well being Clinics is portion of President Biden’s commitment to expand and strengthen equitable behavioral well being for all Americans,” stated HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These clinics serve any one who requests care for mental well being or substance use, regardless of their capability to spend, and connect individuals to the care they require.”

CCBHCs had been designed to transform mental well being and substance use remedy across the nation and offer sustainable funding for robust neighborhood outpatient mental well being remedy. The complete CCBHC demonstration system delivers reimbursement by means of Medicaid for the complete expense of solutions that CCBHCs offer, at greater, additional competitive prices than neighborhood mental well being centers previously received. This sustainable funding also guarantees they can offer a additional extensive variety of solutions rather than fragmented solutions driven by billing codes.

Funding for the CCBHC state arranging grants was authorized by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) in 2022 to address the country’s mental well being crisis. CCBHCs offer crisis solutions that are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and serve any one who requests care for mental well being or substance use, regardless of their capability to spend. This expansion of CCBHCs builds on the Administration’s prior perform to launch the 988 Suicide &amp Crisis Lifeline and additional builds the crisis continuum of care. In September, SAMHSA awarded almost $300 million in funding for new and current CCBHCs, to include things like funding for 150 new CCBHCs. Further funding possibilities for CCHBCs is anticipated to be announced in the coming weeks.

Today’s announcement is the initial of two rounds of awards. One more notice of funding chance to award 15 further states with arranging grants is anticipated to be posted in Fiscal Year 2024.

Ten of the 15 states that received arranging grants will be in a position to join the CCBHC demonstration system in 2024 immediately after a separate application method. Even though only ten states will join the initiative in 2024, states will have a different possibility to join the CCBHC demonstration in 2026. The CCBHC arranging phase assists states in certifying clinics as CCBHCs, establish potential payment systems for Medicaid reimbursable solutions, and prepare an application to participate in a 4-year demonstration system.

“CCBHCs are transforming behavioral well being systems in this nation, and we know that the model of care operates,” stated Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Well being and Substance Use and the leader of SAMHSA. “Data shows in the initial six months of getting care, CCBHCs lower homelessness, lower the quantity of time spent in correctional facilities, lower the time spent in emergency rooms for behavioral well being concerns, lower inpatient hospitalization for mental well being remedy and lower the use of illegal substances.”

Eight states are at present participating in the demonstration: Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

In 2017, the initial CCBHCs had been funded below Medicaid with 67 operating in eight states. Right now, there are additional than 500 CCBHCs, in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

CCBHCs are necessary to meet federal requirements for the variety of solutions that they offer, and they are necessary to get individuals into care rapidly. CCBHCs ought to see individuals in crisis straight away and offer routine outpatient care inside ten organization days immediately after an initial make contact with to avoid individuals from languishing on waiting lists. CCBHCs ought to also make sure access to a extensive variety of solutions, offering care coordination when necessary and incorporating proof-primarily based practices and other supports primarily based on a neighborhood requires assessment. Equally critical, CCBHCs are necessary to serve any one who requests care for mental well being or substance use, regardless of their capability to spend, spot of residence, or age, such as developmentally proper care for kids and youth.

Any person searching for remedy for mental well being or substance use concerns should really contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 800-662-Aid (4357) or visit findtreatment.samhsa.gov.

If you or an individual you know is struggling or in crisis, enable is accessible. Get in touch with or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.