Thursday, May 8, 2025
5/8/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - APLA Health & Wellness (APLA Health), proposes to expand access to behavioral health for the low-income communities served; the LGBTQ+ population, individuals living with and/or at risk for HIV, and the general low-income residents living near our health centers. APLA Health’s grant number is H80CS26614. Our mission is to restore dignity and trust within underserved communities by providing world-class empowering healthcare and support services. Since 1983, APLA Health has remained steadfast in its commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has expanded to now operate nine service delivery sites. We are leaders in advocating for policy that positively impact the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities. The Behavioral Health Services Expansion (BHSE) funding in the amount of $600,000 in Year 1 and $500,000 in Year 2, will support expansion of our Mental Health (MH), Substance Use Disorder (SUD), and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) services. More specifically, we will create a new position, a full-time Director of SUD/MOUD Services to work as part of our integrated behavioral health team to ensure the availability of SUD/MOUD services to all patients across our network. We have a history of success in integrating behavioral health among our patient population, increasing MH patients from 744 in CY 2022 to 944 patients in CY 2023, an increase of 27%. During CY 2023, 44 patients received MOUD for opioid use disorder from our full-time physician that is certified in the subspecialty of Addiction Medicine (ADM) along with being certified as an HIV Specialist. While APLA Health has historically addressed SUD issues among our patients when indicated, our proposed BHSE project will implement a robust new assessment and intake process to capture patient data for SUD specific issues and refer patients for treatment. Updated workflows will be developed and implemented for SUD/MOUD by our Physician Champion. A final goal of the BHSE project will be to introduce and deploy outpatient group therapy and education services for SUD with the intent to initiate an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that serves justice-involved and other low-income individuals. The communities served by APLA Health face discrimination, stigma, and struggle, especially concerning their access to culturally competent, high quality care. Our patients encompass all races, ethnicities, and social classes. APLA Health’s service area is located in the heavily-populated, urban core of Los Angeles that crisscrosses a significant portion of Los Angeles County. Research shows that people with HIV have a higher chance of developing mood, anxiety, and cognitive disorders. For example, depression is one of the most common mental health conditions faced by people with HIV. Another example is that SUDs are more prevalent among people with HIV than the general population. For individuals living with HIV who experience a co-occurring SUD, effective SUD treatment improves both HIV- and SUD-related outcomes. LGBTQ+ individuals are at increased risk for various behavioral health issues. For example, LGBTQ+ individuals are more than twice as likely as heterosexual individuals to have a mental health disorder in their lifetime. They are 2.5 times more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and substance misuse compared with heterosexual individuals. Data from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health suggest that substance use patterns reported by sexual minority adults differ from those reported by heterosexual adults. In 2020, approximately 41.3% of sexual minority adults 18 and older reported past-year marijuana use, compared to 18.7% of the overall adult population. Approximately 6.7% of sexual minority adults in 2020 misused opioids in the past year, compared to 3.6% of the overall adult population. The survey also found that, in 2020, approximately 21.8% of sexual minority adults had an alcohol use disorder in the past year, compared to 11.0% in the overall population.
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).