Project Grant CE252797

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS - LAKEWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES CORP., A COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION, IS AT THE FRONTLINES SERVICING THE MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS OF THE GREATER LAKEWOOD, N.J. AREA. IN 2021, LCSC PROVIDED OVER 26,174 UNITS OF SERVICE (INCLUDING TELEHEALTH) TO OVER 1,500 UNIQUE PATIENTS, 86 PERCENT OF WHOM WERE MEDICAID INSURED OR UNINSURED. TO ADDRESS THE GROWING AND UNMET NEEDS OF OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, LCSC NEEDS TO EXPAND CAPACITY BY MOVING INTO A LARGER FACILITY. FUNDING FOR THE LCSC EXPANSION WILL BE UTILIZED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPPING OF THIS 5,000-SQUARE-FOOT MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY, WHICH WILL HAVE THE CAPACITY FOR AN ARRAY OF SERVICES INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY PSYCHOTHERAPY, GROUP SESSIONS, DBT AND OTHER EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE MODELS. THIS AREA IS A SUSTAINED COVID-19 HOTSPOT, WHICH LED TO A TREMENDOUS SPIKE IN THE NEED FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. A SPATE OF RECENT ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENTS TARGETING ORTHODOX JEWS IN THE SERVICE AREA HAS ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO AN INCREASE IN THE ORTHODOX POPULATION SEEKING TRAUMA TREATMENT AT LCSC. THE HUGE LAKEWOOD POPULATION GROWTH (45.6 PERCENT FROM THE 2010 TO 2020 CENSUS COUNTS) HAS FUELED THE NEED FOR DRAMATICALLY INCREASED SERVICES. THIS GROWTH IS COUPLED WITH A HIGH POVERTY RATE (53 PERCENT OF LAKEWOOD RESIDENTS ARE BELOW 200 PERCENT OF POVERTY, HIGHER THAN THE STATEWIDE AVERAGE OF 21.2 PERCENT AND THE NATIONAL AVERAGE OF 28.9 PERCENT). LAKEWOOD IS DESIGNATED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AS A MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREA (MUA). NOTEWORTHY IS MOST OF THE POPULATION GROWTH IS FROM A ROBUST FERTILITY RATE, PREDOMINATELY IN THE INDIGENOUS ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY CAUSING A PRESSING NEED FOR PERINATAL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH EXPANSION. NIH RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND BY TREATING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BEFORE THEY SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL, INDIVIDUALS GAIN THE SKILLS AND TOOLS THEY NEED TO BE FUNCTIONING AND SAFE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY, REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT AND RELIANCE ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.