Ccbhc improvement and advancement for increased awareness and improved access to mental health, SUD, CO-occurring, care coordination, and crisis services to improve whole-person health. - plains…

Ccbhc improvement and advancement for increased awareness and improved access to mental health, SUD, CO-occurring, care coordination, and crisis services to improve whole-person health. - plains area mental health, INC (plains area) ccbhc improvement and advancement project intends to improve on awareness, access, and care coordination to enhance whole person care and improve treatment outcomes to 600 new clients the first year of the grant. Year two we anticipate 800 new clients will be served and an increase of 25% year over year for the remainder of the grant for a total of 3600 over the four years. The target service population is adults with serious mental illness (SMI), children with serious emotional disturbance (SED), and individuals with CO-occurring mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) who require a high level of care as evidenced by the DLA-20 functional assessment at intake. Our project goals aim to improve community awareness on accessing mental health and SUD services, access in school settings, increase collaboration with the department of corrections and healthcare providers, and address the rising suicide rate for ages 15-44. Our primary geographic area of focus is the iowa counties lyon, sioux, O'brien, dickinson, palo alto, SAC, calhoun, carroll, IDA, buena vista, cherokee, crawford and plymouth in northwest iowa. The population of our focus counties is 210,498 and spans over 9400 square miles. All focus counties are designated by the health resources and services administration (HRSA) as medically underserved areas/populations and health professional shortage areas(HPSAS) for mental health, primary care, and dental services. The healthy iowan 2021 report shows suicide rates statewide have grown by an average of 37%. Specific age groups noted: ages 15-19 suicide rate increased by 38%; ages 20-29 increased 20%; ages 30-39 increased 23%. Additionally, that same report indicates that iowa has the 5TH highest rate of binge alcohol consumption in the US among adolescents and the 5TH highest rate of binge alcohol consumption in the US among working adults. Despite a significant increase in the utilization of our services, county needs assessments continue to indicate concern for the high levels of mental health distress and substance use of their residents. Plains area recognizes availability of services is as important as the quality of whole person care. Our first grant award demonstrated our ability to increase access to, availability of, and the quantity of services. We anticipate the award of the improvement grant will allow US to demonstrate our depth at recognizing the shift and intensity of service needs as our world moves to the place of recovery from the pandemic. Plains area intends to narrow our focus with the intent to improve the quality-of-care continuum as a primary focus of whole person care. As such, plains area will maintain our 24/7 availability, while expanding the depth of care coordination services including communication and collaboration with criminal justice systems, schools, hospitals and healthcare clinics.