WASHINGTON (AP) — The government announced Tuesday plans to award millions of dollars in grants to expand full-time mental health and substance abuse care in more communities across the country.
“Today we are talking about providing 24/7 emergency care to Americans,” said the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Xavier Becerra Said. “This is something that’s only available in some places. But depending on your income and zip code, you could be downright out of luck. That’s starting to change.”
There are over 400 community behavioral health clinics across 46 states, providing 24-hour care to children and adults who walk through their doors, even if they can’t afford to pay. The effort began in his 2014, out of a bipartisan legislative session by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Republican Senator Roy Brandt of Missouri.
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Clinics, often run at the local level or by nonprofits, struggle with spotty funding from the federal government, making it difficult to retain staff and pay for services.President Joe Biden The Gun Violence Bill, signed by the Uvalde, Texas, following the shootings at a school in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, increased state funding for the program.
Additionally, Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan has set aside more than $1.2 billion for the center. The clinic also serves those with private insurance and offers a sliding pay scale for those without insurance.
Now, the federal government is asking states to expand their efforts around clinics, and starting next year, it will provide up to 15 states with $1 million in grants to expand their centers. Ten of these states will be selected in her 2024 to increase program funding through Medicaid by securing federal matching funds at enhanced rates. The goal is to have 10 states join the program every other year until all 50 states have joined.
Nine states already have higher reimbursement rates from Medicaid for patients seeking help at community centers. In other states, the center can receive direct funding from the federal government, and in September he was awarded a grant worth $300 million.
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A four-year-old needs help at Arundel Lodge in Edgewater, Maryland. $2 million federal grantLocal teachers and school counselors called to ask for help for their students.
Doctors send patients who need immediate help to clinics to avoid long wait times at costly private rehabilitation centers. Also, police officers now take some people at risk to lodges instead of prisons or hospitals.
Emergency care at the lodge is staffed with nurses, mental health professionals and peer counselors to help walk-ins develop treatment plans, said executive director Mike Drummond.
“On a walk-in basis, we can evaluate them, evaluate them, develop a treatment plan, and begin treatment.
