Friday, April 25, 2025
4/25/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - PROJECT ABSTRACT Project Title: Expanding Behavioral Health Services Applicant Organization Name: Erie Family Health Center, Inc. Address: 1701 W. Superior, Third Floor, Chicago, IL 60622-5646 Project Director Name: Dr. Lee Francis, MD, MPH Phone: (312) 432-7394 Email Address: lfrancis@eriefamilyhealth.org Website Address: www.eriefamilyhealth.org Funds Requested: $1,100,000 over two years ($600,000 year one, $500,000 year two) Health Center Program grant number: (H80CS00115) Needs to be addressed. Erie Family Centers, Inc., a healthcare home for 90,000+ patients across Chicago, proposes to increase both the staffing and the number of patients served through HRSA’s Behavioral Health Services Expansion grant award. Between 2019-2023, Erie experienced a 63% increase in patients diagnosed with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, and a 54% increase in patients diagnosed with substance use disorders (SUD) revealing the scale of the growing need for Erie’s mental health services. Further, Erie’s service area includes areas severely impacted by substance use disorders. A recent study ranked Humboldt Park second among the 77 community areas of Chicago in terms of emergency medical services (EMS) responses for opioid-related overdoses and deaths. The Chicago Police Department’s Community Concerns tool shows that the top 4 community areas with reported concerns about narcotics from March 2018-March 2019 were all within Erie’s service area. Proposed Services. Erie proposes to expand behavioral health services, including substance use disorder services through a five-part approach: 1.) expand behavioral health staffing and ensure dedicated personnel for SUD services; 2.) restructure care team model to optimize time of existing staff in therapeutic settings; 3.) stratify patients by risk level to ensure faster access to both short-and long-term therapies; 4.) establish new referral agreements; 5.) train medical providers and enhance MOUD prescription workflows. Taken collectively, these actions will increase the number of patients receiving mental health services and those receiving SUD services, including those receiving medication for opioid use disorders (MOUD). Erie proposes to hire a 1.0 FTE Behavioral Health Consultant to expand services at Erie, reflecting our continued effort to increase patients served across our organization. In addition, Erie will dedicate a full-time certified addictions counselor (CADC)-licensed role to provide SUD services to increase the number of patients receiving these services from Erie. This additional behavioral support will add important mental health services as we expand our patient population. Further, Erie will seek to improve internal workflows and restructure our staffing to expand our capacity to effectively serve more patients with mental health services, SUD services and MOUD. Specifically, Erie will build on successful partnerships with its hospital partners to effectively transition patients who are leaving the emergency department with a behavioral health need and are in need of a healthcare home. In addition, we will develop a tiered model of services for behavioral health visits which will ensure we maintain more patients who were previously referred externally with longer term needs. Further, we will provide wrap around support for patients experiencing complex health needs and require social drivers of health supports. In these ways, Erie seeks to increase the staffing, productivity, and ultimately our patients served receiving mental health, SUD, and MOUD services. Patients Served. Taken collectively, Erie proposes to serve 1,000 new mental health patients, 250 new SUD patients, and ensure 16 new patients receive MOUD treatment from our existing baseline. In addition, as we open our new site in West Garfield Park on Chicago’s west side in 2025, we will be expanding these services to one of the highest need communities in the city.
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).