Tuesday, April 29, 2025
4/29/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - CenterPlace Health (CPH), a federally qualified health center (FQHC) established in 2018 in Sarasota County, Florida (Health Center Grant No. H80CS31892) is the primary community safety-net organization that delivers quality medical, dental, chiropractic and behavioral healthcare to children, adults, and families in need, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Needs: In 2023, our patient population was 28,030 across service lines. 2023 marked a year of growth for our behavioral health services as we invested for the first time in a health-center-employed staffing model. The expanded team served 3.5% of our total patient population that year, or 967 individuals. Currently, we do not provide substance use disorder (SUD) services, underscoring the need to increase both our patients’ and our community’s access to mental health and SUD care. This need is especially crucial given the prevalence of mental health and SUD within our patient population and geographic service area: approximately 24% of CPH patients experience symptoms of anxiety or depression annually, while 7.3% have a SUD diagnosis. Our county’s rates of depression, suicide deaths, non-fatal intentional self-harm injuries, and opioid overdose deaths along with a number of other indicators of mental health and substance use challenges outpace state averages. In addition, our homeless population is growing, highlighting the need for targeted, trauma-informed treatment that meets their complex needs. Population: Our patient population is racially and ethnically diverse and includes significant segments of traditionally underserved groups at higher risk for mental health and substance use disorders, including those who are uninsured (33.4%), individuals with Medicaid (39.7%), children and youth under age 18 (45%), individuals who are homeless (2.8%), pregnant women (5%), and those who identify as LGBTQ+ (9.8%). More than half (51%) are non-white and 22.7% speak a primary language other than English. Most are under-resourced: 49% are at or below 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and 18% fall between 101% and 200% of the FPL. Proposed Services: Our expansion initiative will bolster our capacity to provide timely, trauma-informed and culturally competent mental health care, and support the initiation of substance use disorder intervention, treatment, and recovery support services through standardized screening, workforce development and expansion, targeted population initiatives, community partnerships, and integrated collaborative care models to enhance access to care at all seven of our locations; we will also initiate targeted treatment services for individuals who are homeless at the local homelessness resource center. Through this expansion initiative, we will serve 2,000 more children and adults per year. Specifically, we will: 1) Increase the number of patients receiving mental health services by increasing our workforce, integrating our psychology interns into our medical clinics more routinely, initiating group therapy, and training our case managers to conduct biopsychosocial assessments and motivational interviewing. To support our growing pediatric service line, psychological testing capacity will increase, allowing for appropriate diagnosis and treatment early in life. 2) Increase the number of patients receiving SUD services, including treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) through an integrated approach that prioritizes both Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) protocols and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) within our primary care and behavioral health service lines. Furthermore, our comprehensive strategy includes serving as a key partner in the Florida Coordinated Opioid Recovery program and building a coordinated system of care for individuals living with OUD.
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).