Ccbhc-PDI - agape network, INC., of miami-dade county, FL, is seeking funding to pursue credentialing as a certified community behavioral health clinic (ccbhc) through samhsa's ccbhc-PDI grant

Agape meets the majority of qualifications for certification, and has identified three criteria to be addressed to be eligible for certification: establishing a client advisory board, increasing consumer access to crisis and intensive outpatient services, and upgrading its health information technology (HIT) system. Agape is a model of integrated behavioral healthcare and spiritual wellness, providing outpatient and residential mental health, substance abuse, and dual diagnosis services to a multi-cultural population in south miami-dade county, FL. Agape is a local and national model of integrated behavioral healthcare and spiritual wellness, and agape serves thousands of individuals and families annually impacted by serious mental illness (SMI), substance abuse disorder (SUD), and CO-occurring disorder (COD) both on-campus, in-home, and through telehealth. Services include a behavioral health and community health center, residential inpatient treatment, mommy & me programs, outpatient programs, children of inmates' program, criminal justice, and inmate programs, and the agape teen ambassador program. Project goals and objectives include: 1) inclusion of consumers and/or their family members to ensure that all clients with SMI, SUD, or COD are represented in assessing client needs, plans for the establishment of a client advisory board. Policies and procedures will be established to encourage family members and consumers to participate in care coordination; and existing service provision to military personnel will be increased by 30% through the continuation of available services and establishment of mous with the veteran's administration, ensuring rapid response to military personnel's health care needs. 2) increase consumer access to intensive outpatient services through an MOU with the DCO for the provision of 24-hour crisis management services for agape consumers. Policies and procedures will be developed to assist consumers (including children) in obtaining appointments with outside providers, and establish procedures for medication reconciliation with other providers. Agape will partner with community resources to provide access to peer recovery support specialists (prsss), recovery coaches, and other family/caregiver supports, to help ensure further support, recommendations, and access to outpatient services for consumers. 3) upgrade health information technology system. Agape maintains an electronic health records (EHR) system through the credible behavioral health program (cbhp). Within the first year, agape will initiate/upgrade its HIT system to further facilitate care coordination and transition in accordance with certification criteria addressing operational changes. IT will a) support health information exchange to improve care transition; b) develop and maintain care coordination agreements with partners; c) support processes and procedures for collecting, reporting, and tracking encounter, outcome, and quality data; and d) develop and implement a ccbhc-wide data-driven continuous quality improvement (CQI) plan for clinical services and management. IT is estimated that agape will serve approximately 500 adults and children annually, for a total of 2,000 individuals to be served throughout the lifetime of the four-year project.