FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Program Funds Requested: Year 1 - $600,000 Year 2 - $500,000 Broward Community & Family Health Center (BCOM) is the oldest federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Broward County, providing primary, behavioral, and oral health services for more than twenty-five (25) years to the county’s poorest and most marginalized residents. One of Florida’s most densely populated area, Broward County is home to over 1.9 million people. Nearly half its population is comprised of racial and ethnic minorities: African Americans make up 34.2%, Hispanics comprise 26.46% and other minority groups total 5%, all higher than the State. One quarter of the County’s residents are foreign born. BCOM’s mission is “to provide accessible, comprehensive, high quality primary care services to all persons with dignity and respect.” BCOM currently operates comprehensive services through four (4) medical facilities located in Pompano Beach, Hollywood, West Park and Lauderhill, Florida and one (1) dental facility located in Pompano Beach. BCOM sites are currently located in a designated Mental Health Professional Shortage area (MHPSA). For the past ten (10) years, we have provided behavioral health services as a part of our integrated model of care. Our team-based model coincides with the integrated best-practice philosophy for medical and behavioral health providers who partner to facilitate the detection, treatment, and follow-up of psychiatric disorders in the primary care setting. The HRSA Behavioral Health Service Expansion (BHSE) funding opportunity will allow BCOM to expand its services and capacity to increase the number of patients receiving mental health services, and increase the number of patients receiving SUD services, including patients receiving treatment with MOUD. BCOM will accomplish this by expanding its behavioral health provider and support team to include the following: (1) FTE Psychiatric ARNP, two (2) FTE Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs), two FTE (2) Medical Assistants, one (1) FTE Behavioral Health Case Manager, and one (1) Peer Recovery Coach (PRC). This team will provide patient centered services that will include screenings, biopsychosocial assessments, behavioral health therapy, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), care coordination, case management, and peer support and counseling. Services will be provided both in-person and via telehealth. In its 2021 reporting, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), indicated that 40.8% of adults in Florida reported symptoms of anxiety or depression and that more than half of people with a mental health condition in the US did not receive any treatment in the last year. Florida currently ranks next to last, at spending $36 per person, with Puerto Rico at $20, per capita funding for behavioral health. Schrader, Cho-Hee et al. 2023, noted Florida is the third most populated state in the US, while Florida rates 49/51 (including the District of Columbia) “for access to insurance and mental health treatment”. Their research also indicates that Florida has one of the highest prevalence for untreated mental illness at 63.5%, which frequently is co-occurring. Without access to care, quality of life for many individuals will be impacted including financial stability due to unnecessary disability, unemployment, increased risk of suicide, incarceration, and substance abuse, with an estimated cost of more than $100 billion a year, (NAMI, 2021). The expansion of our integrated model of care through the BHSE funding will increase access to high quality behavioral health services for our community. In 2023, BCOM provided serves to 10,578 patients, generating 36,813 encounters. The BHSE funding will allow us to serve an estimated 812 additional patients.
