Burrell Behavioral Health awarded $4 million CCBHC Expansion Grant

Burrell Behavioral Health has received a grant of $4 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) over the next two years, $2 million per year, to expand its behavioral health services in southwest and central Missouri. This is the second such Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion (CCBHC-E) grant received by Burrell, and the highest figure awarded to any CCBHC in the state of Missouri.

The 2020 grant will allow Burrell, the second-largest Certified Community Behavioral Health Center in Missouri and one of the three largest in the United States, to continue to expand its comprehensive and integrative CCBHC model and improve access and quality of care within its 17-county Missouri catchment area.

Burrell estimates an additional 1,600 persons will be directly served due to this expansion, which will serve Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, Stone, Taney, and Webster counties in southwest Missouri, and Boone, Carroll, Chariton, Cooper, Howard, Moniteau, Morgan, Pettis, Randolph and Saline counties in central Missouri. Over 98,000 adults and children in Burrell’s service area are without insurance and may not have access to the healthcare services they need.

Burrell also received $4 million from SAMHSA in 2018. With those funds, Burrell has been able to serve more than 1,500 people since 2018, and has made significant advances in its ability to connect with clients via telehealth through its Connection Center in Springfield, which opened in January 2020.

The grant proposal was formally supported by U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, co-sponsor of the Excellence in Mental Health Act that established the CCBHC program, as well as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Representatives Emanuel Cleaver II, Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long. Letters of support also were written by Ricky Gowdy of the Department of Mental Health, Brent McGinty of the Missouri Coalition for Community Behavioral Health, and Springfield Chief of Police Paul Williams.

This expansion will focus on services for individuals with:

• Serious mental illness;
• Substance-use disorders (SUDs), with a focus on opioid use;
• Children and youth with serious emotional disturbances;
• Those with behavioral health disorders occurring simultaneously with SUDs.

The project goal is to expand rapid access to quality community behavioral health services, integrated care, and supportive human and social services for those who are uninsured, underinsured, have unaffordable insurance and/or gaps in insurance. This includes those who cannot afford insurance deductibles, insurance co-payments and co insurance payments. It will place special emphasis on increasing access for client services for:

• Those experiencing homelessness;
• The LGBTQ+ population;
• Hispanic and Latino communities; and
• African American communities.

The grant also will continue to serve members of the armed forces and veterans, and those affected with HIV

“As the state-designated Community Mental Health Center for 17 counties in Missouri, we are charged with providing mental health services to our citizens regardless of their ability to pay,” said Burrell President & CEO C.J. Davis. “These funds will be vital in helping us accomplish this mission and connect our most vulnerable citizens to the care they desperately need, especially in light of the mental health crisis that will affect so many of us following COVID-19.”

All 17 counties in Burrell’s Missouri catchment area are designated by the Department of Health and Human Services as Mental Health and Primary Care Professional Shortage Areas, with 82 percent of them designated as Medically Underserved Areas.

About Burrell Behavioral Health:

Burrell Behavioral Health works with more than 40,000 clients across 25 counties in Missouri and Arkansas. Burrell has more than 150 licensed providers that offer a full continuum of care through our integrated network. Services include individual therapy and counseling, addiction recovery, psychiatric and medication management, educational and therapeutic groups, crisis intervention, adult stabilization, case management, residential treatment, diagnostic testing and evaluations and developmental disability support. Learn more about Burrell’s programs and services at www.burrellcenter.com.