Family & Children’s Services (FCS), Oklahoma’s largest Community Mental Health Center, has been awarded a $4 million federal grant from The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to establish a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) – a new national model of care which increases access and integrates physical care with expanded mental health care for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) and children with serious emotional disturbances (SED).
According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, CCBHCs are poised to revolutionize behavioral health care and strengthen services across the country for those who need them most.
With these funds, FCS will adopt a more comprehensive approach to deliver mental health services while also tackling the chronic health problems of individuals with serious mental illness.
Over 90,000 Tulsa County adults have a mental illness and of those, over 20,000 have an SMI.
Those with SMI die 27 years earlier and have lives that are marked by poor physical health, poverty and isolation. SAMHSA expects that expanding CCBHCs will improve the behavioral health of individuals across the nation, utilizing evidence-based practices and promote improved access to high-quality care.
FCS will work closely with collaborating organizations; add staff positions; add/enhance substance use, mental health, and primary care services and collaborations; increase access to crisis services; and prioritize health outcomes for the whole person among Tulsa’s most vulnerable adult and youth consumers.
