News & Discussion

CMHA-CEI Awarded 4 Million Dollars to Continue Expanded Services

May 21, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

LANSING – Community Mental Health Authority of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties (CMHA-CEI) is one of 18 behavioral health system recipients of a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant. Of the $54 million awarded, $4 million is earmarked for CMHA-CEI. This funding is made possible by the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act sponsored by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), enhanced by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

As a prior recipient of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Expansion Grant, CMHA-CEI added and strengthened programs that focus on recovery, wellness, trauma-informed care, and physical-behavioral health care integration. CMHA-CEI will use this funding to continue these expanded services.

“As a CCBHC Expansion Grantee, we have worked hard to expand access to comprehensive behavioral health services. The need is great in our communities, and this funding bolsters our ability to provide services for community members who experience barriers to specialty behavioral health care- including those with commercial health insurance,” says Sara Lurie, Chief Executive Officer of CMHA-CEI. “We are extremely grateful to Senator Debbie Stabenow for her leadership, advocacy and legislative work to support and expand access to behavioral health services here in Michigan and across the U.S.”

According to the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, of the 1.76 million Michiganders experiencing a mental illness, only about 62 percent receive treatment. Only 20 percent of people in need of substance use disorder treatment receive such care. Preliminary reports suggest that the impact of COVID-19 on behavioral health care needs will be significant, further increasing the need for expanded access to mental health and substance use disorder services.

CMHA-CEI remains dedicated to continuing to connect community members to essential behavioral health services throughout this challenging time and beyond, and continues to operate by the message shared in the agency tagline, ‘Together We Can.” Latest updates about services and resources can be found at www.ceicmh.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ceicmh.