Scaling mental health services for people with disabilities - the ARC of the central chesapeake region, a 501C3 located in maryland, is working to advance trauma-informed care to people with…

Scaling mental health services for people with disabilities - the ARC of the central chesapeake region, a 501C3 located in maryland, is working to advance trauma-informed care to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The project, scaling mental health access for people with disabilities will bring much needed behavioral health services to the community and demonstrate scale viability of similar projects. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are severely under-served in the mental health community. While there is a significant shortage of mental health clinicians throughout the state of maryland, IT is even more significant for people with IDD. They are turned away from community providers because clinicians do not feel capable or comfortable providing therapy to people with IDD and because providers do not have the capacity to support them. The only support available to them is behavioral support, which uses the applied behavioral analysis (ABA) model. ABA only addresses specific behaviors; IT ignores people's life experiences, and the role each person's history and circumstances play in emotional responses. Already service more than 3,000 people with disabilities and their families annuals, the ARC central chesapeake region (the ARC) is changing the landscape regarding what mental health resources are offered to people with IDD. In 2020, the ARC pivoted how they supported people with IDD and their mental health using licensed clinicians and moved to a model that incorporated individual and group therapies to provide mental health counseling through the lens of trauma-informed care. Because of the success from 2020-2022 and the significant positive outcomes generated to date, the ARC is prioritizing investment in the infrastructure needed for a robust behavioral health program. The ARC's behavioral health takes an approach focusing not on managing specific behaviors but on the necessary mental health counseling and other related clinical supports that go along with IT. The primary goal of this project is to increase access to quality mental health services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in maryland by expanding its behavioral health program. The ARC aims to hire one clinician per quarter, and two behavioral health associates during the grant's performance period. The ARC will use the $250,000 in federal funding to hire four clinicians and two behavioral health associated between september 2023 and september 2024. Funds will cover the first three months or each position's salary. The positions will sustain themselves over time through a braided revenue model as clinicians build their caseload and bill for services. The ARC is among the few providers in the state of maryland approved to bill medicaid, medicare, and private insurance; this means the ARC can support the mental health of people with IDD regardless of age or affiliation with any disability service provider, making this a community-wide resource accessible to anyone. With the additional team capacity, the ARC will be able to expand the number of people with IDD receiving counseling and behavioral health support for their unique mental health needs, with a goal of each clinician servicing 33 people. Success in achieving intended outcomes will be measured by numbers served within the grant period.