The Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) program is a federal initiative launched in 2014, designed to increase access and improve the quality of community mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.
CCBHC designation is available to a variety of nonprofit entities; it is not restricted to community mental health centers. Organizations can qualify as CCBHCs either through individual federal grants or as part of a statewide certification process.
CCBHCs must serve all clients regardless of ability to pay and adhere to uniform national data collection requirements focused on outcomes, not outputs, and enable comparisons across facilities and states. They are required to provide a federally defined array of services, either themselves or through partnerships with designated collaborating organizations (DCOs).
Through individual federal grants, seven mental health clinics in Colorado have received funding to explore and implement the CCBHC model.
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Impacts in Colorado:
(Grantees receive two years of funding. Some examples are from grantees whose funding was not renewed, however, their impact was significant.)
Aurora Mental Health & Recovery
AuMHR used CCBHC funds to purchase a symptom and care measurement technology used by patients and clinicians.
It has enabled patients to get better faster, with a 56% improvement in symptoms, which in turn improves access as clients can step down into lower levels of care and free up higher-acuity appointments for others who need them. It has also increased satisfaction for both patients and clinicians.
North Range Behavioral Health
North Range Behavioral Health is working to increase same day access to care and enhance services for underserved populations.
Mental Health Partners
Mental Health Partners strengthened their continuum of care by implementing new intensive outpatient programs, expanding integrated care programs, and creating a Community Health Worker (CHW) program.
CHWs conduct proactive outreach to engage current and new clients in care and assist them in accessing other needed community supports. In an initial analysis, 54% of clients experienced a decrease in psychiatric distress as a result of MHP’s CCBHC-enabled programs.
Southeast Health Group
Southeast Health Group developed community-specific programs, including specialized services for veterans by creating new county Veterans Services Officers positions in each of their 6 counties. They have also focused outreach for agricultural communities through their local Ag Advisory Council.
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