The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic
OUR NEWEST MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES PROGRAM IS A MODEL OF THE FUTURE OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, BRINGING TOGETHER A FULL CONTINUUM OF CARE, WHILE SIMPLIFYING AND INCREASING ACCESS TO VITAL SERVICES.
On June 15, Bay Cove officially opened the agency’s new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), a program designed to increase access to a robust continuum of integrated behavioral and physical health services for vulnerable people in Metro Boston. This innovative service is funded through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and is a collaboration between Bay Cove, Boston Medical Center and Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program.
Focused on serving low-income, uninsured and under-insured adults with serious mental illness, substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders, and children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance, the CCBHC helps individuals who present to our Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST) receive not just immediate crisis services, but also get connected to the full range of care they may need.
“The CCBHC differs from our existing behavioral health clinics, primarily because of the comprehensive suite of services offered. We’re able to fill in the gaps in care that many vulnerable neighbors face,” says Diane Santoro, Clinical Director for Bay Cove’s Mental Health Services division. “The CCBHC offers nine specific services [see graphic below] that represent the full spectrum of what people are looking for in behavioral healthcare.”
The services offered through the CCBHC are provided under a common umbrella, but not all under one roof, Diane explains. “Bay Cove is providing care coordination, recovery navigation, peer services and psychosocial supports, addiction treatment like detox and medication assisted treatment, and emergency services. These will come via our existing range of programs like BEST, our clubhouses, our Andrew House Detox centers, and others.”
The remaining pieces of the nine key services are provided through Bay Cove’s CCBHC partners—or Designated Collaborative Organizations (DCOs). “Boston Medical Center is providing outpatient therapy for children and adolescents, as well as psychopharmacology services for children and supplemental services for adults,” says Diane. “Meanwhile, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program is handling the primary care services, by running two clinics per week for CCBHC participants out of the Solomon Carter Fuller building.”
Our CCBHC staff is made up of clinicians, who provide urgent behavioral healthcare; care coordinators who, once a client is stabilized, can help connect that person with the full array of ongoing services they may need; recovery navigators that can help people negotiate a more long- ranging continuum of recovery services; and a health and wellness coach.
Currently, individuals are being referred into the CCBHC through BEST, but as the program’s capacity grows, the intent is for other Bay Cove programs, our DCOs, and area emergency rooms to act as referrers for the clinic’s services.
“Traditionally, the mental health system has always been one of silos,” says Diane. “This program is really an attempt to do something about it, and take a more holistic view of behavioral healthcare. It’s all about breaking down walls, integrating care, and streamlining each person’s path to receiving complete, comprehensive services.”
