CCBHC expansion in Burlington and parts of Mercer County, New Jersey - Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton (CCT) is one of seven New Jersey agencies to have partnered with the State on the original CCBHC program; our CCBHC was certified in 2017 and provides all of the core services required by CCBHCs in western Mercer County. This project will expand services in two underserved areas, the eastern portion of Mercer County, NJ and Burlington County, NJ. In eastern Mercer, of 2,567 patients seen at our partnering charity care clinic over the past year, 1,591 spoke Spanish only, 179 had a mental health diagnosis, 41 received a mental health referral to one of our programs, and only 7% were covered under Medicare or private insurance. Burlington is New Jersey's largest county, has a higher percentage of veterans than the rest of the State, and has no accessible community-based crisis or substance abuse services. Goals under this 24-month initiative are as follows:
Goal 1: To expand access and provide more comprehensive family-focused mental health services in eastern Mercer (outpatient services for adults and children).
Goal 2: To provide access to critical services in Burlington County, particularly for veterans.
The following will be included in this expansion: (1) Crisis Services; (2) Screening, assessment, and diagnosis; (3) Patient-centered treatment planning; (4) Outpatient mental health and substance use services; (5) Outpatient primary care screening and monitoring of key health indicators and health risk; (6) Clinical monitoring for adverse effects; (7) Targeted case management; (8) Psychiatric rehabilitation services; (9) Social and peer supports; (10) Comprehensive community recovery supports; (11) Armed forces/veterans; (12) Assertive Community Treatment; (13) Relationships with judicial officials/court systems; and (14) Advisory Work Group.
Co-located primary care and pharmacy services are operational, organizational charts and workflows were created for the original CCBHC, staff are in place, and we bill for services through the NJ State Medicaid program. Our original CCBHC was certified by the State of NJ in 2017. Current services offered by Catholic Charities that will be available as part of this expansion include: (1) Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (outpatient, partial care, IOP, ambulatory detox, MAT); (2) Housing – Supported; Forensic; Medically enhanced; Rapid rehousing; (3) Crisis Services– Early Intervention Support Services (EISS), Mobile Crisis Response and Stabilization (Children); (4) Domestic Violence Services; (5) Supported Employment and Supported Work Programs, including Self-Help Riverbank Transportation Peer Services; and (6) El Centro - Spanish-speaking community resources and BIA-accredited immigration services.
The evaluation will utilize 32 validated, structured measures that are used in the existing CCBHC. Catholic Charities was selected as the New Jersey Liaison to SAMHSA contractor RTI and currently provides test case use data and recommendations to RTI on protocols for CCBHC measures. To ensure objectivity and fidelity to the CCBHC model, an external evaluator will be contracted to oversee the evaluation.
