Description
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2010 for the Training and Technical Assistance Center for Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (TTA-PBHCI) cooperative agreement. The purpose of this program, which is jointly funded by SAMHSA and HRSA, is to serve as a national training and technical assistance center on the bidirectional integration of primary and behavioral health care and related workforce development. SAMHSA is collaborating with HRSA on the TTA-PBHCI to support the mutual goal of promoting integrated primary and behavioral health care services across the health care delivery system. For the purposes of this announcement, "behavioral health care" includes mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders treatment and recovery support services. The TTA-PBHCI will provide an array of training and technical assistance services to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of work to achieve the bidirectional integration of primary and behavioral health care. As a national resource, the TTA-PBHCI will provide technical assistance to grantees in SAMHSA's Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) program and entities funded through HRSA to address the health care needs of individuals with mental illnesses, substance use and co-occurring disorders, including individuals seen in Health Centers funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act. Through this coordinated effort, the TTA-PBHCI will: Increase the number of individuals trained in specific behavioral health related practices; Increase the number of organizations using integrated health care service delivery approaches; Increase the number of consumers credentialed to provide behavioral health related practices; Increase the number of model curriculums developed for bidirectional primary and behavioral health integrated practice; and, Increase the number of health providers trained in the concepts of wellness and behavioral health recovery. The TTA-PBHCI's overall goal is to promote the planning and development of integrated primary and behavioral health care for those with serious mental illness (SMI), addiction disorders and/or individuals with SMI and a co-occurring substance use disorder, whether seen in specialty mental health or primary care safety net provider settings across the country. It will address primary care-behavioral health care through a "no-wrong door" approach because individuals with mental health and/or substance abuse treatment needs, including individuals with SMI, often seek care in primary care settings to address their health care needs. The "No-wrong door" approach recognizes that access to physical health/behavioral health care services and effective referral arrangements for those living with a mental illnesses and/or addictions must happen in all health care settings, including primary care. The TTA-PBHCI will support grantees funded through the PBHCI grant program in the coordination and integration of primary care services into publicly funded community mental health and other community-based behavioral health settings. The training and technical assistance will help grantees address the disproportionate rates of early mortality among people with serious mental illnesses by making available routine primary care in community mental health and other community-based behavioral health settings. SAMHSA expects that people with serious mental disorders will show improvement in their physical health status as a result of this program and that others with mental health and substance abuse service needs will be properly screened, provided appropriate brief interventions and/or referred to more extensive treatment/services if needed. The TTA-PBHCI will support SAMHSA's Pledge for Wellness 10 by 10 Campaign to promote wellness for people with mental illnesses and reduce early mortality by 10 years over the next 10 year time period. The TTA-PBHCI will also serve the crucial function of supporting grantees and the field in understanding how health reform legislation and regulations will impact the scope, delivery and financing of integrated primary and behavioral healthcare programs. It is likely these reforms will require provider agencies to have better infrastructure and be prepared to collect and report data that substantiates that appropriate integrated care is being delivered and that it is producing high quality and cost effective outcomes. Much of the work in the workforce development field focuses on integration of behavioral health into primary care settings, but there is less known about integration of primary care into behavioral health settings or ways to promote peer support as a valuable component of behavioral health service delivery. In addition to the support for the grantees funded by SAMHSA and HRSA, the TTA-PBHCI grant will be a training resource for those in the behavioral health and primary care service fields involved with organizing, delivering and sustaining effective integrated primary care screening, assessment, treatment, and referral services. More... See the full funding opportunity description at http://samhsa.gov/Grants/2010/SM-10-011.aspx