FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Project Title: FY24 Behavioral Health Services Expansion (HRSA-24-078) Applicant Organization Name: Southland Integrated Services, Inc. Grant Number: H80CS28371 Project Director Name: Tricia Nguyen Southland Integrated Services, Inc. (Southland) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Garden Grove, California, that provides comprehensive health and social services to diverse, low-income populations throughout central Orange County, California. Originally established in 1979 as the Vietnamese Community of Orange County Inc., Southland received its Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) designation in 2015 and has since expanded to meet the needs of its community—regardless of resident race, ethnicity, immigration status, insurance status, and/or ability to pay. Today, Southland provides integrated primary care, oral health, social services, acupuncture, and Behavioral Health (BH) services alongside education, employment, youth, and senior programs to facilitate multiple entry points into the healthcare continuum. In 2023, Southland served 4,591 underserved children, adolescents, adults, and seniors in 2023 within its designated service area. Through the FY24 Behavioral Health Services Expansion (BHSE) initiative, Southland aims to increase the number of patients receiving mental health (MH) services and increase the number of patients receiving substance use disorder (SUD) services, including patients receiving medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Southland will focus efforts on serving low-income, uninsured adults and children with a BH diagnosis, including individuals with Severe Mental Illness, Severe Emotional Disturbance, and Co-Occurring Disorders. With funding, Southland will be able to further expand and support BH services at its Garden Grove site—9862 Chapman Avenue, Garden Grove, California, 92841—which is also the site of its Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC). Furthermore, funding will be used to hire new, bilingual personnel, and provide BH-related education opportunities for BH staff to further their knowledge in support of the population served by this initiative. As illustrated in our 2023 Uniform Data System (UDS) report, Southland provided MH services to 505 patients. While we had zero (0) SUD patients, we had eight (8) patients who received medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) disorder during the reporting period. As a high performing CCBHC, Southland is well positioned to address the gaps in BH access and care. Currently, our BH staff includes a psychiatrist, a licensed clinical psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, associate social worker (ASW), associate marriage family therapist (AMFT) and other mental health personnel including case managers. Per our current Form 5A: Services Provided, while Southland already provides MH services in Columns I and II and psychiatry services in Column I. Following award, Southland will submit a change in scope application to add SUD services to Form 5A. To increase the number of patients receiving mental health services and SUD and MOUD services, Southland will hire a Nurse Practitioner, BH Clinician, two (2) Patient Navigators, and two (2) Case Managers. It is critical that providers and staff at Southland have experience working with our populations of focus, and are bilingual in English, Spanish, or Vietnamese. New initiative staff will be well supported by BH existing staff as Southland continues to work to close gaps in currently available BH services, health-related social needs, and stigma as well as discrimination.
