Unison Behavioral Health Group Inc

STRENGTHEN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OUTCOMES - UNISON BEHAVIORAL HEALTH GROUP (UBHG) SUBMITS FOR CONSIDERATION THE “STRENGTHEN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OUTCOMES” (SBHO) INITIATIVE WHICH WILL ESTABLISH AND/OR EXPAND KEY OUTREACH, COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES, CAPACITY BUILDING/TRAINING, AND USE OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH EVIDENCED-BASED BEST PRACTICES (EBPS) TO RESIDENTS OF LUCAS COUNTY, OHIO (POPULATION 428,348)—WHICH IS THE INTENDED CATCHMENT AREA FOR THE CMHC FUNDING. PARTICULAR EMPHASIS WILL BE CENTERED ON TOLEDO (POPULATION 276,491) WHICH IS 65% OF POPULATION OF LUCAS COUNTY AND HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY HARD HIT AS THE RESULT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. ACCORDING TO US CENSUS DATA, LUCAS COUNTY IS 68.2% WHITE, 20.3% BLACK, 1.7% ASIAN, 3.3% TWO OR MORE RACES, AND 7.4% IDENTIFY AS AT LEAST SOME LATINO/HISPANIC BACKGROUND. THE COUNTY IS 51.6% FEMALE/48.4% MALE. (ACS, 2019) UBHG IS THE CMHC APPLICANT AND 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION WITH OVER 40 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE AS A PROVIDER ORGANIZATION SERVING RESIDENTS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS (SMI), SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS (SUD), AND CO-OCCURRING MH/SUD DISORDERS (COD). THE POPULATION OF FOCUS FOR THE SBHO PROJECT IS ALL RESIDENTS IN LUCAS COUNTY WITH BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON JUSTICE-INVOLVED INDIVIDUALS, SCHOOL-AGE YOUTH, AND/OR THOSE ALREADY IN THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM. CENSUS DATA REPORTS THAT 23.7% OF LUCAS COUNTY IS ENROLLED IN MEDICAID COMPARED TO OHIO (18.1%) AND NATIONAL (19.3%) AVERAGES. ALMOST 9% OF LUCAS COUNTY (8.8%) IS UNINSURED COMPARED TO STATE (7%) AND NATIONAL (8%) AVERAGES. 13.8% OF THE COUNTY REPORTS HAVING ONE OR MORE DISABILITY COMPARED TO 11.8% NATIONALLY. (U.S. CENSUS, 2019) THE SBHO INITIATIVE WILL ADDRESS MH, SED, AND COD TREATMENT GAPS AND NEEDS THROUGH ATTAINMENT OF THE FOLLOWING GOALS: - ACHIEVE CMHC INITIATIVE TARGETS BY ESTABLISHING KEY INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES WITHIN FOUR MONTHS OF CMHC FUNDING AWARD. - PROVIDE ENHANCED SCREENING AND REFERRAL SERVICES AND EXPANDED CONTINUUM OF CARE TO SCHOOL-AGE YOUTH. - PROVIDE ENHANCED SCREENING AND REFERRAL SERVICES AND EXPANDED CONTINUUM OF CARE TO INDIVIDUALS IN THE JAIL SYSTEM. - INCREASE LUCAS COUNTY’S SOCIAL SERVICE NETWORK KNOWLEDGE BASE AND HOW TO ACCESS TRAUMA FOCUSED COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (TF-CBT) AND OTHER KEY EBT SERVICES. - CONDUCT FULL OVERSIGHT, CQI, AND PROJECT EVALUATION TO EXAMINE AND ASSURE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SBHO INITIATIVE AND CMHC FUNDING TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS, UBHG WILL MAXIMIZE OUTREACH, EXPAND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, AND UTILIZE ADDITIONAL EBPS. UBHG WILL TRAIN STAFF AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS ON EBPS AND HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND REFER CLIENTS IN NEED OF MH/SED/COD. THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF CLIENTS TO BE SERVED WITH CMHC FUNDING WILL BE 2178 OVER THE TWO-YEAR GRANT PERIOD.