Community council of nashua, NH seeks to become a certified community behavioral health clinic in order to expand its capacity of services and therefore serve more residents in need of care. -…

Community council of nashua, NH seeks to become a certified community behavioral health clinic in order to expand its capacity of services and therefore serve more residents in need of care. - across the U.S., almost a quarter (22.3%) of all adults with a mental illness reported that they were not able to receive the treatment they needed. In NH, this number is 28.8%, putting IT at number 50 among the states for access to critically needed services. In addition, 2020 statistics show the opioid overdose rate in NH was the second highest in the country - nearly 3 times the national average. Community council of nashua, N.H., better known as greater nashua mental health (gnmh), has applied for a funding opportunity from the department of health and human services and substance abuse and mental health services administration (samhsa) with the goal of becoming a certified community behavioral health clinic (ccbhc) in order to enhance and increase its capacity to provide evidence-based mental health and substance use disorder services to the residents of southern hillsborough county. The majority of clients served by gnmh live in the towns of amherst, brookline, hollis, hudson, litchfield, mason, merrimack, milford, mont vernon and the city of nashua, although our deaf and hard of hearing services team provides services statewide. Clients are individuals of all ages, who receive specialized services tailored to all stages of the life cycle. The majority of gnmh clients have complex mental health and substance use disorder needs, many of whom have CO-occurring diagnoses, and therefore require more than one service as well as a variety of supports. The goals of the project include increasing access to and availability of high-quality care by implementing intentional and innovative strategies within the agency; working continuously to measure and improve the quality of services and access to high-quality mental health and substance use disorder services, regardless of an individual's ability to pay; and to meaningfully involve consumers and family members in their own care as well as in the broader governance of the certified community behavioral health clinic. Gnmh intends to serve a total of 6,500 unique clients between october of 2022 and september of 2026, the proposed dates for the project, if awarded funding.