Department of health and human services substance abuse and mental health services administration community mental health centers grant program - the prairie ridge community mental health centers…

Department of health and human services substance abuse and mental health services administration community mental health centers grant program - the prairie ridge community mental health centers grant program will focus on restoring and supporting delivery of clinical services that were impacted by the covid-19 pandemic and will work to address the needs of individuals with severe emotional disturbance (SED), serious mental illness (SMI) and individuals with SMI or SED and substance use disorders, referred to as CO-occurring disorder (COD). Individuals served will include adults with severe mental health disorders, children who have a diagnosable mental , behavioral, or emotional disorder, and/or individuals experiencing a mental health condition with a CO-occurring substance use disorder. The geographic focus of the project includes an 8-county area in northern iowa, including the counties of cerro gordo, floyd, michell, worth, winnebago, kossuth, hancock and franklin. The total population of the 8-county area, as documented by the U.S. Census 2018 american community 5 year survey, is 123, 149. Our community health needs assessment shows individuals in our area continue to face many unmet needs due to the lack of comprehensive and integrated services systems, inconsistent use of evidence-based practices, a lack of insurance, poverty (with 10.46% of the population living below the poverty level), and a lack of affordable transportation. These challenges are exacerbated by a persistent shortage of providers in the area, including physicians and psychiatrists. The lack of psychiatrists is particularly acute and intensified by a statewide decline in psychiatric beds for emergent and crisis services. All counties within our catchment area a primary care and behavioral health care shortage areas (hpsas) for medicaid populations. A chna by a local health system also identifies a lack of mental health providers/support services as the most significant need in north central iowa. The lack of behavioral health services is linked to a critically high suicide rate which, even before the covid-19 pandemic, was the ninth leading cause of death in iowa and the second leading cause of death for iowans between the ages of 10 and 34. Since 2000, suicides have grown from 288 to 521 in 2019, and are growing still further during the covid-19 pandemic. From march to august 2020 alone, 267 suicide deaths were reported in iowa. Concurrently, alcohol and drug-related hospitalization rates continue to grow. While data on the impact of the pandemic is still being gathered, the U.S. Census bureau estimates that roughly 100,000 more iowans in december 2020 reported feeling depressed nearly every day compared to what was surveyed in may or october. The centers of disease control found that in the fall 2020, mental health emergency visits rose by 24% for children and 31% for teens. Prairie ridge has designated five goals with measurable objectives to meet the needs of the people in our catchment area and our focus populations. These goals include expanding availability and ease of access to community-based peer support and crisis response services by establishing community drop-in centers, enhancing partnerships between prairie ridge's behavioral health team and the criminal justice system, expanding access to integrated health home services to non-medicaid funded patients, addressing behavioral health issues of school-aged children at risk for SED through provision of "reconnecting youth" curriculum within the schools, and increasing outreach ability by training and supporting peers to assist individuals with addressing behavioral health needs that may have arisen or worsened as a result of the pandemic.