H79SM086535

Healing Connections: WellPoint Care Network's planning, development, and implementation of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic - Healing Connections: WellPoint Care Network's planning, development, and implementation of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (Healing Connections) seeks to expand access to comprehensive integrated behavioral health services to reduce disparities of health outcomes for residents of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

WellPoint Care Network (WellPoint) will significantly expand integrated services and offer a cohesive screening, treatment, and care coordination experience for children, adolescents, and adults with mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) needs.

Healing Connections focuses on addressing health inequities by:
1. Providing enhanced screening via multiple points of access,
2. Improving the quality and expanding the scope of services of our SUD treatment and co-occurring disorders (COD) treatment to address the substantial need and gap in services, and
3. Expanding our consumer and family-driven care coordination services to substantively improve the treatment experience and achieve successful outcomes by facilitating cohesive integrated treatment across complex systems.

The project will impact 770 unduplicated individuals. The catchment area of the project is Milwaukee County, with enhanced outreach and focus on the central city and northwest Milwaukee ZIP codes of 53218, 53206, and 53209, which face the highest impact of mental health disparities and have high rates of the trauma of abuse, neglect, violence, poverty, racism, and family separation.

Milwaukee is ranked one of the least healthy counties in Wisconsin (ranking number 70 out of 72 counties) in the 2022 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report. Demographics of the population of focus are 57.3% White, 26.7% African American, and 16.3% Hispanic/Latino. In Milwaukee County, 19.4% of the population is living below the poverty level compared to 11% statewide. Milwaukee residents have a higher than state average prevalence of binge drinking, opioid deaths, and depression, and a post-COVID surge in suicide deaths with rapidly growing incidence rates over the last two years.

Project goals include:
Goal 1: Support recovery from co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders by providing access to high-quality services effective with consumers experiencing health disparities.
Goal 2: Enhance screening and intervention services to decrease levels of suicide in adolescents and adults in the community.
Goal 3: Develop care coordination services for consumers of CCBHC to assure safe, appropriate, and effective care and transitions.

Project objectives include:
- Expand evidence-based SUD screening by completing SBIRT/YSIBRT with 50 consumers in year one, 75 in year two, 100 in year three, and 100 in year four.
- Train a total of six clinicians in evidence-based SUD assessment, motivational interviewing, and integrated dual diagnosis treatment (IDDT) over the first two years.
- Implement IDDT program by the end of year two.
- Train 20 clinicians and implement universal screening and assessment for suicidal ideation for youth and adults using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale by the end of year one.
- Train five clinicians in collaborative assessment and management of suicidality (CAMS) treatment program by year two.
- Implement CAMS treatment by the end of year two with 20 clients, 25 by the end of year three, and 30 by the end of year four.
- Hire two care navigators to provide care coordination for consumers over the first three years.
- Train two care navigators on care coordination, person-centered planning, and recovery goals by the end of year three.
- Provide care coordination for child and adult consumers to support referrals and make connections to employment, insurance, or treatment resources for 50 consumers in year two, 100 in year three, and 150 in year four.

The project will serve 50 individuals in year one, 165 in year two, 250 in year three.

Wellpoint Care Network

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO INCREASE ACCESS TO AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF COMMUNITY MENTAL AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT SERVICES THROUGH THE EXPANSION OF CCBHCS. CCBHCS PROVIDE PERSON- AND FAMILY-CENTERED INTEGRATED SERVICES.

93.696 - Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion Grants

Division of Grants Management [HHS - SAMHSA]

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 532221706 United States

Single Zip Code

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion Grants (SM-22-002)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 300% from $999,984 to $3,999,914.