Thursday, April 3, 2025
4/3/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless (ACHCH) is a public entity 330h Health Care for the Homeless health center based in the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency since 1988, providing primary care, behavioral, dental, substance use, enabling services, and specialty care to the target population of persons experiencing homelessness throughout Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. ACHCH annually provides medical and enabling services encounters to some 9,200 persons experiencing homelessness throughout Alameda County. ACHCH provides comprehensive health care services including behavioral health care for patients experiencing homelessness through directly-provided services, subrecipient and contractor-provided care, and through convening and collaborating with a countywide network of care to provide comprehensive homeless health care services. ACHCH will implement the FY2024-2026 Behavioral Health Services Expansion (BHSE) in response to the increasing burden of behavioral health conditions experienced by Alameda County residents experiencing homelessness. ACHCH BHSE will hire a Clinical Pharmacist and two FTE Substance Use Navigators with substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health expertise to: Increase the number of patients receiving mental health (MH) services; and increase the number of patients receiving SUD services, including treatment with medications for opiate use disorders (MOUD), through the following modalities: • Development of Co-Located MH/SUD-focused pharmacy. ACHCH will carry out BHSE-funded A/R work to build out currently unused office space, co-located with our TRUST primary care clinic, into a Board of Pharmacy compliant pharmacy. Pharmacy services will be provided to patients receiving MH/SUD prescriptions and will include dispensing medication, carrying out medication management and provision of SUD/BH enabling services such as education, counseling, support and referrals. Pharmacist and SUNs will work in partnership with prescribers at the TRUST and AHS Bridge Clinics as well as Street Health Teams. • Purchase and construction of mobile pharmacy unit. In compliance with new Board of Pharmacy guidelines, ACHCH will roll out the state’s first mobile pharmacy unit serving people experiencing homelessness. Pharmacist and SUNs will directly provide MH/SUD pharmacy services including dispensing, medication management and enabling recovery and mental health supports in street and shelter-based field locations where patients are served by ACHCH care teams (Street Health and Shelter Health teams) throughout the county of Alameda. Provision of clinic-based and mobile pharmacy services is designed to meet one of the greatest barriers to effective treatment for homeless persons with MH/SUD disorders, which is access to supportive pharmacy services, dispensing and support. These services will ease the load of clinicians, increase MH/SUD access, improve adherence and treatment success and link MH/SUD patients to ongoing supports needed to recover and attain housing and other community supports. ACHCH plans to provide these services to at least 250 new patients in 2025. A health department led HCH program, ACHCH plays a crucial role in County-wide partnerships and collaborations to create access and services for homeless residents with behavioral health needs. These efforts address housing health equity for homeless persons, address emergency planning and response, and improve access to quality safety-net and FQHC-level care for all homeless residents. ACHCH is uniquely suited to utilize HRSA BHSE funding to make a direct impact to reduce mortality and improve lives and health outcomes among homeless health center patients with behavioral health disorders
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).