RYC-ccbhc-IA22 - the robert young center for community mental health (RYC) will improve and advance its RYC certified community behavioral health clinic (ccbhc) established in 2020 through integration…

RYC-ccbhc-IA22 - the robert young center for community mental health (RYC) will improve and advance its RYC certified community behavioral health clinic (ccbhc) established in 2020 through integration of comprehensive mental health services into the substance use disorder service array, enhancing screening and assessment by incorporating best-practice instruments, implementing a children & adolescent diagnostic clinic, expanding the size and scope of supported employment, improving screening/testing for consumers at risk of highly communicable conditions, and utilization and enhancement of care coordination throughout the service array to provide person-centered behavioral health care. Samhsa ccbhc-IA funding will allow the RYC-ccbhc to enhance screening and assessment processes by incorporating a social determinants of health screening instrument into the suite of assessments available to clinicians, integrate into the substance use disorder (SUD) service array by providing enhanced suicide risk screening, and implementing a child and adolescent diagnostic clinic in order to offer comprehensive, family-centered screening, assessment, and provide therapeutic intervention for those living with serious emotional disturbance (SED). RYC-ccbhc-IA will enhance comprehensive mental health (MH) and SUD services by increasing access to medication assisted treatment (mat)-trained providers and care coordination for individuals living with SUD. Using a designated collaborating agreement, RYC-ccbhc-IA will provide screening for HIV/hepatitis within the ccbhc clinic via a blood test and lab results. Enhanced primary care screenings will be operationalized through care coordination in a primary care setting. RYC-ccbhc will expand opportunities for supported employment by expanding the team size and coverage area. The RYC-ccbhc improvement and advancement project "RYC-ccbhc-IA22" population of focus is comprised of 18,000 individuals and includes adults with MI, children and adolescents with SED, individuals with SUD, and individuals with CO-occurring mental and substance use disorders (COD). This project will serve a total of 10,000 unduplicated individuals over a four-year period (1,000 - year 1; 3,000 - year 2; 3,000 - year 3, and 3,000 - year 4). A community health needs assessment completed in 2021 for the RYC catchment area (northwest illinois and eastern iowa) strongly suggests that accessing care (rather than access to care) is problematic for residents despite rich resources for healthcare services and infrastructure. The project has three goals: 1) improve ease of access to and quality of community mental health and substance use disorder services, 2) develop strategies to sustain cchbc services, 3) develop robust, outcome-based reporting to illustrate ccbhc improvements and advancements. These objectives will assist in transforming the RYC-ccbhc behavioral health system, issues with accessing care, and enhancing person-centered behavioral health care.