Friday, May 3, 2024
5/3/2024
Catholic Charities, Inc. – Archdiocese of Hartford (CCAOH) currently provides effective, high quality, trauma-informed, recovery-oriented, person- and family-centered behavioral health care to children, youth, adults and veterans through its CCBHC. The target population is primarily Hispanic persons in the City of Hartford and surrounding communities (i.e., East Hartford, New Britain, and West Hartford). Among the target population, 28% have Limited English Proficiency, 29% live under the federal poverty level, 22% do not have a medical home, and 11% are uninsured. The CCBHC is located in the City of Hartford at CCAOH’s Instituto de la Familia Hispana (IHF), a Hispanic-led community center offering culturally and linguistically competent behavioral health and community services to Greater Hartford’s Hispanic community for over 45 years. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of adults and 91% of children/youth served through the IHF CCBHC are Hispanic. More than 800 people participate in CCBHC coordinated services annually. Our data analysis determined statistical significant differences in the care that the CCBHC provides. CCBHC consumers have improved in functioning level and symptom reduction. A deeper dive into the data shows that more adult consumers improved when they participated in both therapy and support services vs. therapy alone – 80% vs. 65% on depression (PHQ-9) and 69% vs. 61% on anxiety (GAD-7). Also, our staff’s cultural/linguistic competence has produced a high rate of success among Hispanic adults for symptom reduction (81% receiving therapy and support services improved on PHQ-9 and 74% on GAD-7). Trauma disorders are common diagnoses at the IHF CCBHC among children, youth, adults and veterans. The smoking rate is 29% for all consumers and 34% for men. Within the target population and regards to prevalence, CCAOH estimates that thousands of adults, children, youth and veterans are currently experiencing behavioral health issues and not receiving treatment. Service gaps include lack of availability of bi-lingual therapy (Spanish speaking); need for more culturally-competent clinicians; need for more mental health services for Hispanic children; and an overall need for outpatient mental health services for children/youth. With this grant, persons receiving care and their family members will provide input into project design, evaluation, and changes. The Project Management Team will continually review CCHBC results and address health disparities in program access, service use and client outcomes. Based on two years of experience and emerging community needs, the IHF CCBHC will: 1) Expand and enhance the outpatient treatment capacity for Hispanic children with the evidence-based treatments of Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy; 2) Enhance outpatient services for Hispanic adults experiencing trauma by providing EMDR Therapy; 3) Enhance outpatient and community support services for Veterans; and 4) Improve child/adult clinical outcomes and staff/client retention by implementing Measurement-Based Care (MBC). To improve our assessment of consumers’ cultural factors, we will implement Cultural Formulation Interviews. To address tobacco use among our population, we will offer an evidence-based tobacco cessation treatment approach. The IHF CCBHC will continue to operate in compliance with the revised CCBHC Certification Criteria and provide/broker all nine (9) required services. CCAOH has developed DCOs/MOUs for mobile crisis services, inpatient services, veteran referrals, and EBP training. Community needs assessments will be conducted by February 2024 and by February 2027. CCAOH will continue to contract with the University of CT (UConn) Health Center for external evaluation 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).
