The Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC) d/b/a Eskenazi Health (EH) serves Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. HHC is applying for funding from the FY 2021 Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Grant Program. Through the CMHC Expansion Project, Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center (SEMHC), a division of EH, will expand CMHC services to clinic sites to expedite scheduling appointments and prevent delays in treatment by hiring additional front-line staff and introducing a Criminal Justice Outreach Team (CJOT), as well as providing crucial self-care training to pandemic-strained staff.
SEMHC is a Certified Community Mental Health Center per the Family and Social Services Administration of Indiana (FSSA) Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) providing care for the underserved and vulnerable populations in Marion County. SEMHC provides the full spectrum of mental health treatment services across eight locations throughout Marion County, as well as through collaboration with Indianapolis and Marion County schools, governmental bodies, and community organizations. SEMHC utilizes state-of-the-art evidence-based practices (EBP) in all aspects of treatment. EBPs are chosen for their effectiveness with SEMHC clients.
Mental Health America’s 2021 State of Mental Health in America report ranks Indiana’s overall mental health ranking as 33rd nationwide, a higher than average prevalence of mental illness with lower than average access to services. Indiana ranks 43rd in terms of mental health workforce availability. Additionally, overdose deaths in Marion County have risen rapidly, doubling from 2010 to 2017, to reach 39 per 100,000 residents, largely due to opioid overdose (Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation’s report, Assessing Indiana’s Opioid Misuse: A 2018 Update on the State’s Opioid Crisis). With funding from the SAMHSA CMHC Expansion Grant, SEMHC will increase access to services for individuals with serious emotional disturbance, serious mental illness, and/or co-occurring disorder.
Goal 1: SEMHC will serve 1,000 unduplicated individuals during the funding period, 500 in year one and 500 in year two.
Goal 2: During the funding period, SEMHC will expand services to meet the increased demand of families and youth needing services by adding staff at four SEMHC locations to increase the intake capacity of outpatient programs and reduce wait times for those requiring mental health and SUD services.
Goal 3: During the funding period, SEMHC will provide four (4) eight-week tracts of Center for Mind-Body Medicine self-care training to at least 40 behavioral health staff members to help offset increased fatigue and burnout from the pandemic response.
Goal 4: By the end of each grant year (total of two years), less than 50% of clients involved with the Criminal Justice Outreach Team and its therapeutic approach will recidivate to incarceration.