Wednesday, February 5, 2025
2/5/2025
Father Joe’s Villages plans to expand behavioral health services through St. Vincent de Paul Village Family Health Center (VHC). The target population in the VHC’s service area have a prevalence of co-occurring disorders, and lack of access to medical and behavioral healthcare. This negatively impacts social determinants of health, such as economic empowerment, safe and secure shelter, and education. Additionally, these individuals are disproportionately affected by easy access to potent street drugs, with potentially fatal outcomes. HRSA Behavioral Health Services Expansion funding will increase capacity and effectiveness of behavioral health and primary care services the VHC provides by supporting patients who need management of Substance Use Disorder (SUD), including treatment with medications for opioid use disorder. The Father Joe’s Villages campus that houses our VHC offers wraparound services, ranging from meals to permanent housing, and the organization is in the planning phases of converting shelter space to a new detox program, immediately adjacent to the existing Health Center. Currently there are only 77 detox beds available for the entire County of San Diego, which has a population of 3.3 million. VHC collaborates with local Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs; Jane Westin, Areta Crowell Center, and San Ysidro Health) and Opioid Treatment Programs (CRASH, Inc., McAlister, Inc. and Acadia Healthcare) to receive patient referrals for care. The VHC will expand staffing capacity to treat program participants, offering them vital mental health and SUD treatment services, including insurance enrollment, individual and group counseling, primary care and MAT services. Minor A/R proposed will provide additional therapeutic and group room space. We respectfully request $1,100,000 over a two-year period to support the proposed enhancements that will provide robust behavioral and SUD treatment to our patients at risk and expe riencing homelessness.
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).