White House to award $45.1 million for expanded mental health

Photo: Walter Bibikow/Getty Images

In an election-year push to expand mental health and substance use services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced grant awards totaling $45.1 million, of which $15.3 million will fund services specifically for children and youth.

The grants will go to organizations combating the nation's mental health and overdose crises, HHS said this week.

The $15.3 million earmarked for children will be used to support their mental health in school settings, serve children and families who have experienced traumatic events and grief, and provide services specific to young people of transitional ages who are at risk for serious mental health conditions, the administration said.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT? THE GRANTS

Of the $45.1 million total rewards, $7.5 million will go toward Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals, which coordinated and evidence-based treatment and services for individuals, including youth, and families with substance use disorders or co-occurring mental health conditions who are experiencing homelessness.

Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education), which develops a sustainable infrastructure for school-based mental health programs and services, will receive $6.5 million.

National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative – Category III: Community Treatment and Service Centers will receive $5.4 million. This program increases access to effective trauma and grief-focused treatment and service systems for children, adolescents and their families who experience traumatic events.

Transforming Lives Through Supported Employment will receive $4 million. This program supports state and community efforts to refine, implement and sustain evidence-based supported employment programs and mutually compatible and supportive evidence-based practices for adults who have serious mental illness or co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.

Minority AIDS Initiative: Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations at High Risk for HIV/AIDS will receive $4 million. This program increases engagement in care for racial and ethnic medically underserved individuals who have substance use disorders and/or co-occurring mental health conditions who may be exposed to, or living with, HIV.

Healthy Transitions: Improving Life Trajectories for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Disorders Program will receive $2.3 million. This program improves and expands access to developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate services and supports for transition-aged youth and young adults (ages 16-25) who either have, or are at risk for developing, serious mental health conditions.

Adult Reentry Program will receive $2 million. This program expands substance use disorder treatment and related recovery and reentry services to adults in the criminal justice system who have a substance use disorder and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders, and who are returning to their families and communities following a period of incarceration in state and local facilities including prisons, jails or detention centers.

Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers will receive $1.7 million. This program establishes or implements comprehensive treatment and recovery centers that provide a spectrum of treatment, harm reduction and recovery support services to address the opioid epidemic and ensure access to all three FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder.

Targeted Capacity Expansion (Special Projects) will receive $1.1 million. This program implements targeted strategies for the provision of substance use disorder or co-occurring disorder harm reduction, treatment and/or recovery support services to address an under-resourced population or unmet need identified by the community.

Emergency Department Alternatives to Opioids Program will receive $1 million. This program develops and implements alternatives to opioids for pain management in hospitals and emergency department settings to reduce the likelihood of opioid misuse. This program also supports identification of, and intervention for, individuals presenting with opioid use disorder.

State Pilot Grant Program for Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women will receive $3.6 million. This program advances family-based outpatient services for pregnant and postpartum women with a primary diagnosis of a SUD, emphasizing the treatment of opioid use disorders; helps states provide outpatient treatment and recovery support services for pregnant and postpartum women with SUD; and promotes a coordinated system of SUD care within each state.

Statewide Family Network Program  will receive $1.1 million. This program provides resources to enhance the capacity of statewide mental health family-controlled organizations to engage with family members/primary caregivers who are raising children, youth and young adults with serious emotional disturbance and/or co-occurring disorders.

Statewide Consumer Network Program will receive $1 million. This program enhances the capacity of statewide mental health consumer-run organizations to partner with state efforts to improve mental health and related service systems for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) or serious emotional disturbance (SED) as agents of transformation.

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Improvement and Advancement Grant will receive $3.9 million. This program supports CCBHCs that have been certified by their states or that participated in a previous CCBHC-Expansion award to further expand access to and delivery of coordinated, comprehensive behavioral health services for individuals across the lifespan with mental health and/or substance use challenges, including 24/7 crisis services. CCBHCs serve anyone who asks for help for mental health or substance use, regardless of their ability to pay.

THE LARGER TREND

In February HHS finalized modifications to the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulations, which protect the privacy of patients' SUD treatment records.

Specifically, the final rule increases coordination among providers treating patients for SUDs, strengthens confidentiality protections through civil enforcement, and enhances the integration of behavioral health information with other medical records to improve patient health outcomes.

In January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a new model to test approaches for addressing behavioral and physical health, as well as social needs, for people with Medicaid and Medicare. Practice participants in the Integration for Behavioral Health Model will be community-based behavioral health organizations and providers, including Community Mental Health Centers, public or private practices, opioid treatment programs, and safety net providers where individuals can receive outpatient mental health and SUD services.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation model will incentivize practice participants to work collaboratively to screen, assess and coordinate between individuals' physical and behavioral health needs by being given the resources to facilitate integrated care. 

This includes infrastructure payments to support health IT capacity-building, electronic health records and practice transformation; technical assistance; and a predictable value-based payment model.
 

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.