The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2018 Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) Expansion Grants (Short Title: CCBHC Expansion Grants). The purpose of this program is to increase access to and improve the quality of community behavioral health services through the expansion of CCBHCs. CCBHCs provide person- and family-centered services and are available in the 24 states that participated in the FY 2016 Planning Grants for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (SM-16-001). The CCBHC Expansion grant program must provide access to services for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) or substance use disorders (SUD), including opioid disorders; children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED); and individuals with co-occurring disorders (COD). SAMHSA expects that this program will improve the behavioral health of individuals across the nation by providing comprehensive community-based mental and substance use disorder services; treatment of co-occurring disorders; advance the integration of behavioral health with physical health care; assimilate and utilize evidence-based practices on a more consistent basis, and promote improved access to high quality care.
CCBHCs provide a comprehensive collection of services that create access, stabilize people in crisis, and provide the needed treatment and recovery support services for those with the most serious and complex mental and substance use disorders. CCBHCs integrate additional services to ensure an approach to health care that emphasizes recovery, wellness, trauma-informed care, and physical-behavioral health integration. CCBHCs provide services to any individual, regardless of their ability to pay or their place of residence.
The 21st Century Cures Act established the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC). In December 2017, the ISMICC issued a Report to Congress1 that outlined five major areas of focus and recommendations intended to support a mental health system that successfully addresses the needs of all individuals with SMI or SED and their families and caregivers. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics Expansion Grants align with the following recommendations:
- 2.1. Establish standardized assessments for level of care and monitoring of consumer progress.
- 2.7. Use telehealth and other technologies to increase access to care.
- 2.8. Maximize the capacity of the behavioral health workforce.
- 3.1. Provide a comprehensive continuum of care for people with SMI and SED.
- 3.9. Make integrated services readily available to people with co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders and other substance use disorders.
- 3.10. Develop national and state capacity to disseminate and support implementation of the national standards for a comprehensive continuum of effective care for people with SMI and SED.
- 5.2. Adequately fund the full range of services needed by people with SMI and SED.
- 5.8. Expand the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) program
States were funded to develop CCBHCs in FY2016 through Planning Grants for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (SM-16-001) This CCBHC expansion announcement creates opportunities to support the expansion of the CCBHC model in those states which participated in the 2016 Planning Grant program. This funding opportunity also addresses Healthy People 2020 Health and Mental Disorders Topic Area HP 2020-MHMD and Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA.
1The ISMICC Report to Congress can be found at https://www.samhsa.gov/about-us/advisory-councils/ismicc
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