$200 Million in CCBHC Expansion Grants

ByCHESS Health

Thinking of applying? CHESS can help

The National Council for Behavioral Health recently sent out an email blast to spread word of a funding opportunity announcement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Clinics across the nation are now eligible to apply for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Expansion Grants.

What Do the Grants Support?

The CCBHC Expansion Grant program supports efforts by clinics to expand access to a comprehensive array of mental health and addiction services in community-based settings and helps improve their ability to coordinate care with other health system partners and collect and report on quality metrics.

What’s New This Year?

The $200 million SAMHSA will make available this year represents an increase of $50 million over 2019 funding. Clinics applying for Expansion Grants are eligible for two-year grants of up to $2 million per year. In another new development, organizations in all 50 states may apply for grants, although clinics in the 24 states that received CCBHC planning grants in 2016 will receive priority.

What is a CCBHC?

Briefly, CCBHCs, a relatively new provider type under Medicaid, are organized to provide a comprehensive suite of mental health and substance use disorder services to vulnerable individuals. In return, CCBHCs receive an enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rate, based on their anticipated costs of expanding services to meet the needs of these complex populations. To be eligible, the clinic must provide the following:

  • Crisis mental health services
  • Screening, assessment and diagnosis
  • Patient-centered treatment planning
  • Outpatient mental health and substance use services
  • Primary care screening and monitoring*
  • Targeted case management*
  • Psychiatric rehabilitation services including peer support, counseling and family support services
  • services for veterans*
  • These services may be provided directly by the CCBHC or through a contract with a Designated Collaborating Organization.

Application Deadline March 10, 2020

SAMHSA has set a deadline of March 10 for CCBHC Expansion Grant applications. The official announcement of the grant opportunity is at the SAMHSA web site.

Prospective Applicants Take Note

CHESS Health’s eIntervention solution is proven to improve care transitions and care coordination. In addition, the CHESS platform includes eRecovery a patient engagement and management solution as well as eTherapy, a cognitive behavioral health solution that improves outcomes. CHESS can help prospective grant applicants by providing information necessary to meet the grant requirements and can also help grant recipients to meet their ongoing reporting requirements.  Contact CHESS health at CHESS CCBHC online or phone 844-MY-CHESS for help with optimizing your proposal, and to discuss support for reporting requirements on implementation.