Mental Health Awareness Month: What is a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic?
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
At Wellpoint Care Network, we know that tearing down mental health barriers is important.
Because the need for accessing quality mental health services is so vast, we try to make our approach to provide healing services as far-reaching and in-depth as possible.
In 2022, our organization was awarded a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to become a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC). We are only the second such clinic in Wisconsin.
Wellpoint Care Network’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (Healing Connections) expands access to comprehensive integrated behavioral health services in order to reduce disparities of health outcomes for residents of Milwaukee County. Wellpoint Care has significantly expanded integrated services and is offering a cohesive screening, treatment and care coordination experience for children, adolescents and adults with mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) needs.
At a minimum, CCBHC must provide nine core services, either directly or with established community partners:
One of Wellpoint Care’s goals with CCBHC is expanding our screening and treatment for those with mental health and substance use issues.
In a recent interview with MKE Lifestyle, Wellpoint Care Network Director of Clinical Services Carey Jacobsen said, “Overcoming barriers [to treatment] starts with the understanding that addiction is a disease and impacts a large number of adults and youth in our community. Providing treatment that addresses mental health and addiction simultaneously acknowledges the interrelatedness of the two.”
According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, the CCBHC model alleviates decades-old challenges that have led to a crisis in providing access to mental health and substance use care across the nation. CCBHCs have dramatically increased access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, expanded states’ capacity to address the overdose crisis and established innovative partnerships with primary care providers, schools and criminal justice systems to improve care, reduce risk and prevent need for higher levels of care.
As a CCBHC provider, Wellpoint Care must serve anyone who seeks treatment, regardless of their age, diagnosis or ability to pay. The clinic offers a comprehensive, rapidly implemented and trauma-informed treatment plan that incorporates all aspects of a patient’s required care, so they aren’t left alone to navigate multiple healthcare, justice, social service and education systems.
