Tuesday, April 29, 2025
4/29/2025
CCBHC Expansion - There is a dearth of behavioral health care services for people living in Ocean County, NJ (OC), a NY metropolitan shore town with approximately 600,000 with the largest groups consisting of veterans and adults ages 65 and older. Utilization of acute psychiatric services in the county provides the best depiction of need with the second highest screening volume in NJ, approximately 700 screenings per month (NJ DMHAS, 2012). In 2016 there were 201,000 emergency visits by individuals with a behavioral health diagnosis, over a 5% increase since 2012 (NJ Hospital Association, 2016). Further, forty percent of people across NJ referred to state psychiatric services were OC residents. Despite the utility of diversion programs in mediating hospitalizations, they consistently reach capacity by mid-month. From 2008-2010, behavioral health was one of the top five diagnoses for all hospital admissions for people ages 18-64 years of age living in OC (OC Community Health Improvement Plan, 2018). Substance use and co-occurring disorders have grown exponentially over the last decade. In 2016 OC had the second highest number of drug overdose deaths, trailing only Essex County, NJ, despite having close to 200,000 fewer people (NJ State Medical Examiner). During the same year, OC had the largest number of ER admissions (842) in the state due to alcohol liver disease. A county needs assessment identified the following prioritized health issues: Behavioral health, chronic disease prevention & education, childhood obesity, access to care, immunization compliance. Identified barriers to care were lack of insurance, poor accessibility of providers, long wait lists for services, and a dearth of psychiatric providers (OC Community Health Improvement Plan, 2018). CPC is the largest behavioral health care provider in the neighboring county of Monmouth serving approximately 9,000/year and a SAMHSA designated CCBHC. As a provider of integrated care for over 20 years delivering intensive case management, justice involved support, supported employment, housing support, and Assertive Community Treatment and our newly formed behavioral health home, the CCBHC was a natural extension of our approach that increased the capacity and breadth of our service offerings. Despite this growth, we remain troubled by the number of calls from OC residents in desperate search for behavioral healthcare services despite our lack of accessibility. Given the infrastructure and programming developed to offer CCBHC services in Monmouth County, we believe that we are well positioned to share our expertise and capacity with our southern neighbor to close the service gaps and reduce health disparities in OC through the provision of integrated services.
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).