By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Horizons Mental Health Center was one of only six community mental health centers in Kansas selected as recipients of an expansion grant from the federal government to create new programs and achieve Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic status.
"One of the criteria of a CCBHC is access to care," said Horizons CEO Mike Garrett. "We went to walk in access. You don't have to have an appointment to come in for an intake, you can just walk in and we'll see you, in January of 2011. We've been doing that for over 10 years, but that's one of the criteria to be a CCBHC that some community mental health centers across the nation haven't established yet."
Right now, the federal government is offering these grants as a carrot. The question is, in the long run, will they use the lack of going to this continuum of care as a stick to limit funding? Garrett doesn't know that.
"I would hope that community mental health centers, behavioral health clinics all over the nation would see the value of moving into this model of care," Garrett said. "It is so dynamic. It is so transformative that it really does help us serve people in communities better. I know that there's a sweeping trend with this. I think that's one of the reasons that we have such a huge data reporting responsibility to SAMHSA so they can prove to Congress the value and benefit."
Between all the new programs the grant will allow and the expansion of current offerings, Garrett expects to hire more people in the coming months.
"We have 15 new positions that will be funded through this grant," said Garrett. "They are surrounding the co-responder program and the crisis stabilization services, because that will be a 24-7 operation."
Horizons is still deciding on where to put the 24-7 facility and what needs it will have, but progress should be made on that in the first half of 2021.