Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
The RI Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) will implement the 2020 Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Emergency COVID-19 project statewide. The population of focus will be adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), those with Substance Use Disorder (SUD), and/or those with co-occurring SMI and SUD; children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED) and individuals with mental health conditions less severe than SMI requiring mental health care as a result of COVID-19 including those in the health care profession. Recent data from BHDDH's Behavioral Health Online Database reveals 2,316 unique admissions in calendar year 2019 across 5 Community Mental Health Centers for individuals with high acuity SMI and youth with SED. Of these admissions, 2,079 are adults and 237 are children. 4% of youth had a co-occurring SUD diagnosis as did 59% of adults. We project that individuals with conditions less severe than SMI currently seen in general outpatient programs may rise to higher levels of care given increased symptomatic response associated with COVID-19. Based on these projections, we will target 700 of these individuals (approximately 30% of a typical year's admissions) to newly engaged or re-engage with COVID-19 resources and completion of the required data collection. Our targeted subpopulations who may have less severe conditions than SMI will include those experiencing homelessness, behavioral and physical healthcare professionals, and immigrant, refugee, and non-English speaking populations and will complete required data collection should they enroll in services. Rhode Island's overall goal is to improve outcomes among the targeted populations experiencing mental health and substance use conditions as a result of COVID-19.To address the needs of these individuals, we will focus these grant resources on investments in: technical and clinical infrastructure for telehealth at our licensed Community Mental Health Centers, creating remote access to DATA-waived prescribers; and supporting organizations in delivering treatment and making linkages to recovery support services in a telehealth context in the language preferred by the client. Specific strategies include: 1) Issuance of a delegated authority request for proposals to expand the telehealth capacity of Community Mental Health Centers 2) Provision of interpreter and translation support services for phone, video and computer-based materials used by behavioral health providers 3) Establishment of a Buprenorphine Tele-Induction (assessment and prescribing) hotline and connection to outpatient maintenance treatment It is our belief that these investments are sustainable as the service delivery environment shifts toward a more favorable context for telehealth service policy and reimbursement.
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).
