FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Norwalk Community Health Center, Inc. Health Center Program Grant Number: H80CS12844 Norwalk Community Health Center (NCHC) is requesting Behavioral Health Service Expansion funding to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services, including treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) for underserved populations. NCHC has served the low-income population for 25 years and currently operates two fixed sites in Norwalk, CT. NCHC also maintains a mobile unit to increase service accessibility for underserved populations, including the homeless and public housing residents. NCHC provides a broad array of services, including medical, dental, mental health, psychiatry, SUD, specialty care, and enabling services. In 2023, NCHC provided care for 12,576 patients with 55,740 visits. Population to be Served: The target population includes low-income and medically underserved individuals, with particular emphasis on the 26% of residents living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. The target population consists of a large minority population, many of whom do not speak English. The target population also includes a significant number of homeless individuals and public housing residents. Needs to be Addressed: There has been a major increase in mental health and SUD needs in Norwalk, especially among low-income and minority populations. In Norwalk, 14% of residents have anxiety and 6% have depression. Significant racial and ethnic disparities exist for these indicators; 19% of Blacks and 21% of Hispanics in Norwalk have anxiety, compared to 11% of Whites. In Norwalk, 11% of Blacks and 10% of Hispanics have depression, compared to 4% of Whites. From 2016-2021, the overdose death rate more than doubled in Norwalk; an increasing share of those deaths were among people of color (CT Data Haven, 2021). The target population faces financial, cultural, and linguistic barriers to accessing mental health and SUD services. Provider shortages are prominent, including a lack of mental health and SUD providers that will see the uninsured or those covered by Medicaid, resulting in wait times of up to six weeks for an appointment. Only 43.1% of those surveyed for the 2019 Greater Norwalk Region Community Health Needs Assessment felt that Norwalk residents can access SUD services “always” or “most of the time”. Access to mental health and SUD services is even more challenging for the homeless and residents of public housing in Norwalk. NCHC currently provides mental health and SUD services, but does not have the capacity to meet the demand for services. Among current patients, 1,500 have a mental health and/or SUD diagnosis, but have not been seen by an NCHC behavioral health provider due to capacity limitations. Significant unmet need for services also exists in the community among patients not enrolled in care at NCHC. Additionally, NCHC does not have the resources to provide MOUD services for our patients. There is also no provider in the service area that offers accessible Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) for SUD. Services to be Provided: NCHC will expand access to mental health and SUD services including through the following staff: 3.2 FTE LCSWs, 0.5 FTE psychiatrist, 0.6 FTE psychiatric APRN, and 0.5 LPC, and several support staff to enhance outreach and education. We will also add an IOP program, MOUD, and enhanced recovery support. We will more than double our current number of mental health patients, and significantly expand our SUD patients. We will add 630 mental health patients, 135 SUD patients, and 50 MOUD patients with 4,635 total visits in calendar year 2025. All BHSE services will be available at our main site and our Smilow site (co-located with a homeless shelter). We will also provide services via our mobile unit, which will regularly stop at public housing complexes. Telehealth will be available for all services.
