Saturday, April 27, 2024
4/27/2024
Project Title: Bridgeway Inc. CMHC Clinical Services: Restoration and Support As a provider of behavioral health services for over 25 years, Bridgeway believes that mental health and substance use services are vital to the health and well-being of our communities, especially those in rural geographic areas who see an increase in stigma as well as an increase of people in need. This need for services has intensified since COVID-19 began, with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, loneliness, bereavement and other issues much more than before the pandemic. Through this grant, Bridgeway will be able to restore our services to the highest level as they were prior to COVID-19. We will also be able to expand support to the increased number of individuals experiencing mental health and substance use issues, especially those individuals with serious emotional disturbance (SED), serious mental illness (SMI) and those with co-occurring disorders (COD). Services are available to anyone in need in the west central region of Illinois including the counties of Knox, Warren, Henry, Henderson, McDonough, Fulton, Tazewell and McLean. Bridgeway strives to ensure appropriate and timely behavioral health services to the communities we serve but have experienced challenges during the pandemic due to a variety of reasons. Even though Bridgeway is a long-standing mental health and substance use provider of outpatient and community-based programs, the barriers brought on by the pandemic did impact our clinical services. These challenges included a decrease in overall services that Bridgeway has historically provided including individual therapy, as well as group therapy, due to restrictions set forth by the state; a decreased workforce due to personal concerns and at-home as well as increased pay opportunities for employees; and the inability to expand services to better support our communities, as our collaborating providers and organizations were working to merely stay in business, even though the need to build supports was vital. In order to address these challenges, Bridgeway’s goals for this grant are to restore and expand necessary services by: building our clinical workforce of mental health therapists to pre-COVID levels, ensuring no waiting list and restarting group therapy services; hire and retain clinical employees through competitive recruitment and retention strategies; add vital staff to expand necessary services to an increased behavioral health population, to include an Advanced Practical Nurse for increased psychiatry and medication management, Qualified Mental Health Providers in county areas that have historically not had this level of support; as well as a specific Community Support/Diversion Specialist to increase collaborations with our local legal, court and law enforcement systems. This Specialist position will also assist in ensuring necessary behavioral health services through diversion as opposed to jail or prison. Bridgeway’s goal is to serve 200 individuals annually, 400 total, during the two years of this grant opportunity.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
