Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI), a non-profit primary and behavioral health care provider in Miami-Dade County (Health Center Program H80CS00821), proposes the South Miami-Dade County Behavioral Health Service Expansion Project to increase access to behavioral health services through the start and expansion of mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services, including Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). The population groups to be served include individuals in the southern region of Miami-Dade County with mental health and/or substance use needs who seek care, including those with serious mental illness (SMI), SUD, children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED), those with co-occurring mental and substance disorders (COD), and those experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. This includes existing CHI primary care patients who have unmet behavioral health needs. City- and county-level data, as well as findings from a 2024 CHI community needs assessment, show that communities living within CHI’s catchment area experience high prevalence of mental health disorders. Statistics show that these geographic areas rank higher on various measures of mental illness and substance use than Miami-Dade County as a whole. Services will be provided in three CHI locations: Doris Ison Health Center (CHI’s flagship location), West Perrine Health Center, and Naranja Health Center. These centers are located in zip code areas identified as having higher mental health needs and lower socioeconomic status compared to other zip codes within the catchment area. West Perrine currently has no onsite behavioral health providers. Though Naranja Health Center provides behavioral health, it is limited in scope and offered only one day per week. Doris Ison, as the largest CHI location, experiences a high volume of patients seen, leading to a higher demand for behavioral health services that are not currently being met. Provision of MOUD is extremely limited in all locations. CHI plans to hire two full-time therapists, two full-time case managers (including one who will also serve as a substance use specialist), one full-time peer specialist, and one part-time psychiatrist to assist in the provision of mental health and SUD treatment and recovery services. This project will increase the number of patients receiving mental health services through the following activities: • Increase appointment availability for therapists and psychiatrists for the treatment of mental health at Doris Ison, Naranja, and West Perrine centers. • Collaborate with our primary care providers and our Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) social worker to provide referrals/integration of care for individuals in need of mental health services. • Increase the number of peer support groups offered for mental health recovery. • Increase the number of therapy groups offered for mental health. Additionally, this project will increase the number of patients receiving SUD services, including patients receiving treatment with MOUD, through the following activities: • Increase appointment availability for therapists and psychiatrists for the treatment of substance misuse at the Doris Ison and Naranja sites. Begin offering appointments with therapists and psychiatrists for the treatment of substance misuse at West Perrine. • Collaborate with our primary care providers and our CSU social worker to provide referrals/integration of care for individuals in need of substance use services. • Provide trainings to primary care providers on Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) and administration of MOUD. • Begin offering MOUD at West Perrine location; expand provision of MOUD at Doris Ison and Naranja locations. • Increase the number of peer support groups offered for substance use recovery. • Increase the number of therapy groups offered for substance use.
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).