FY 2024 behavioral health service expansion - behavioral health service expansion (hrsa-24-078) - neighborhood healthcare (H80CS00285) funds requested: $1,100,000 (year 1: $600,000; year 2:…

FY 2024 behavioral health service expansion - behavioral health service expansion (hrsa-24-078) - neighborhood healthcare (H80CS00285) funds requested: $1,100,000 (year 1: $600,000; year 2: $500,000) project period: september 1, 2024 to august 31, 2026 neighborhood healthcare (neighborhood) serves 96,867 patients across 27 sites in riverside and SAN diego counties. Neighborhood's patient population is 65% hispanic, 24% non-hispanic white, 4% asian, 3% black or african american, 1% native hawaiian/pacific islander, 1% american indian/alaska native, 1% more than one race, and 1% unreported. More than one in three (39%) are best served in a language other than english, primarily spanish and arabic. Nearly all (92%) report incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, 75% are enrolled in medi-CAL, and 12% are uninsured. According to the california health interview survey, one in four residents (21.9% - 29.3%) within the service area have experienced moderate to severe psychological distress in the past year, which has impacted their family and work life. Additionally, one in five service area residents have seriously considered suicide (19.9% - 21.5%), a rate higher than state averages (18.9%). Despite this, depression diagnoses (16.3% - 16.7%) trail national averages (19.8%). Per the CDC and california overdose surveillance dashboard, residents of the service area have higher than average rates of binge drinking and are more likely than all californians to overdose due to fentanyl, opioids, and all drugs. Despite these needs, nearly one in three adults (29.02%) delay care due to cost, and one in seven (14.74%) lack a usual source of care. In 2022, hrsa reported that health centers met only 27% of the demand for mental health services and 6% for substance use disorder (SUD) services. In 2023, neighborhood provided 9,408 patients (9.7% of the patient population) with 89,062 virtual and in-clinic mental health visits, including for SUD and moud. However, long waitlists persist for access to mental health services. Currently, the majority of neighborhood healthcare site locations are located in mental health hpsas with a population group designation (scores range from 11 to 18), indicating a need for additional workforce development. Neighborhood healthcare is proposing a behavioral health service expansion project that will recruit, hire, and train additional behavioral health providers, staff, and interns, expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services. Activities proposed in this project will directly increase the number of patients receiving mental health services in 2025 by 1,214 and increase the number of patients receiving SUD services by 405, including treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (moud) by 81 in 2025. By doing so, the project aims to improve overall behavioral health outcomes and address this growing need in our service area.