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LEBANON – Three community mental health agencies serving the Upper Valley have received federal grants to expand and sustain their services amid ongoing staff shortages and increased demand for services after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lebanon-based West Central Behavioral Health, Springfield, Vt. Based Health Care and Recovery Services of Southeastern Vermont and Randolph-based Clara Martin Center each received $4 million in grants over four years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grants are intended to help mental health agencies become Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) starting late last month and running through September 29, 2026.
Although the impact of the grants may not be immediately visible to customers, West Central CEO Roger Osmun said he hopes the grants will help increase Medicaid rates in the long term and change the way mental health care is paid for. The cost of providing the services.
“The federal government is actually increasing the Medicaid match for states that use the CCBHCs model,” Osmun said.
The model is similar to that used by federally qualified health centers, which receive funds from the federal government to provide certain health care services.
But part of getting that increased payment includes tracking data to show the cost of providing the quality of care that certified centers are required to provide. Osmun said he expects 80% of the grant to go toward salaries and benefits, with the rest going toward training. West Central is currently seeking a CCBHC Quality Data Analyst and Project Evaluator and Project Director.
“The gift doesn’t change what we do,” Osmun said. Of the nine required “core areas”, West Central is fulfilling eight. The ninth involves organizing services for veterans and active military personnel.
In a recent news release, HCRS celebrated receiving the grant and said it will allow flexibility in the way it delivers services, expand staff professional opportunities and enhance the organization’s collaboration with primary care providers.
West Central and HCRS are the first-time recipients of the planning, development and implementation grants, while the Clara Martin Center grant will expand operations beginning in 2021 and then receive a two-year, $4 million planning grant.
Clara Martin Operations Director Christy Everett said the first grant “opened up a lot of avenues for us.”
For example, the grant allowed them to provide services to the uninsured, she said. Clara Martin allowed her to open a weekend walk-in session.
“It’s allowed us to do more to really address some of the needs,” Everett said, noting that Clara Martin has been able to increase salaries to hire master’s-level clinicians.
“It really puts agencies on a path to financial stability,” she said. “This is hope.”
Clara Martin plans to use the next round of funding to focus on expanding programs for youth ages 16 to 22 and seniors age 55 and older. The focus on those two groups came from the organization’s research as part of First Aid.
The Transitional Youth Program aims to provide youth and their families with counseling and support, as well as substance abuse treatment and therapeutic adventure-based programs. The program aims to help young people develop self-esteem, problem-solving skills, goal-setting and communication skills.
Meanwhile, the Elder Care Services Program aims to provide psychological support to seniors at home or in the office to help them improve mental health symptoms, improve overall functioning and quality of life, and address issues such as substance abuse and isolation that are strengthened by the rural nature of Orange County. . Clara Martin plans to expand its capacity to respond to people’s homes to provide counseling, care coordination and integrated physical health care.
“Mental health care is health care, and it’s all tied together,” Everett said.
Noting that people waiting for inpatient mental health beds in emergency rooms are still in crisis, Everett hopes this investment in “upstream” services will help prevent people from reaching crisis points.
The grant’s focus is in line with the Vermont Department of Mental Health’s goals to provide “more comprehensive care in one place,” said Alison Krompf, the department’s deputy commissioner. Specifically, the CCBHC model focuses on providing integrated mental health and substance use treatment as well as peer support, services designed for veterans and military personnel, and mobile crisis response. ,” Cromph said.
Ultimately, “stricter quality standards and better access to care; Everyone wants to do this,” she said.
Krompf was wary of the model’s disparity in funding mental health care. She said it was not a “cost-based compensation” model, but a “cost-related” model. “There’s an angle here to talk about what it costs,” she said.
“We’re happy that people are still willing to look at new options,” Krompf said, despite the increased demand for care in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and labor shortages. The department is “open and interested to see where this goes.”
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
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