VOAMASS - CCBHC - IA - Volunteers of America Massachusetts (VOAMASS) proposes a CCBHC Improvement & Advancement (CCBHC-IA) program to build upon its inaugural 2021 CCBHC-PDI award. In 2021 and 2022 the VOAMASS Integrated Care Center of MetroBoston (ICC-MB) met all criteria for SAMHSA Certification as a Community Behavioral Health Center serving MetroBoston, specifically Boston neighborhoods of Lower Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and bordering communities of Quincy and Somerville to the south and north. MetroBoston, concentrated in Suffolk County, is the catchment area for the proposed CCBHC-IA program. The primary population includes unhoused individuals/families, veterans, justice-involved persons, and individuals experiencing co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. The target population is at greater risk of suffering poor health outcomes from complex factors, including higher rates of co-morbid medical and behavioral health conditions, and lower access to resources that support social determinants of health (SDOH). Housing, financial stability, behavioral health, and access to services remained key priorities in the catchment area's 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The proposed approach builds on lessons learned over the first two years of CCBHC implementation and focuses on measurable goals and objectives for continuously improving the ICC-MB whole-person integrated care model. The most recent CHNA findings reinforce the continued need to provide rapid access to behavioral health care alongside support for housing and homelessness; employment, education, and job training through an integrated, no-wrong-door community-oriented approach. Metro-Boston CCBHC improvement goals include (1) Improve upon current no-wrong-door approach to reaching the focus population of veterans, individuals experiencing housing instability, justice-involved persons, and/or individuals living with SUD and CoD populations in MetroBoston with CCBHC services; (2) Implement system, workflow, and staffing changes to improve rapid access to screening, assessment, and referral to services that address the needs of the whole-person and to better reach individuals who require additional support initiating or remaining engaged in services; (3) Improved infrastructure for managing staff development and enhancing training curricula to hold all staff accountable for delivering interventions to fidelity with evidence-based practices, clinical guidelines, and professional standards of practice across all disciplines; (4) Enhance existing VOAMASS crisis care model by integrating 988-referrals, adding 24/7 on-call nursing support, and tracking of referrals to state-funded mobile crisis services provider; and (5) Improve initiation and engagement of individuals with recovery and health-related social needs in person-centered, evidence-based case management, peer coaching, and rehabilitative housing and employment services. VOAMASS will serve 1,000 unduplicated individuals, 250 each funding year. The agency will implement sustainability strategies for resources to maintain service delivery once funding ceases.
