Beth Israel Lahey Health awards $1.2M to launch community-based Behavioral Health Navigator Programs
Grants will increase mental health and substance use services, supports in 4 gateway municipalities
BOSTON (Aug. 5, 2024) – Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) is awarding $1.2 million to four community-based organizations to implement Behavioral Health Navigator Programs as part of a new initiative aimed at increasing access to mental health and substance use services and supports for community residents.
The new behavioral health grant program underscores BILH’s commitment to work collaboratively with community partners and invest in programs to address barriers to accessing mental health and substance use care and services.
Through a competitive process, four nonprofit organizations in the Massachusetts Gateway Municipalities of Haverhill, Lynn, Peabody and Quincy have been selected to receive $300,000 each from 2024 to 2027 to launch Behavioral Health Navigator Programs in their communities.
The inaugural grant recipients are:
Haverhill: Eliot Community Human Services
Lynn: Greater Lynn Senior Services
Peabody: City of Peabody Department of Health
Quincy: Quincy Public Schools
The grant awards will fund the hiring, training and support of community-based behavioral health navigators who will work to identify, understand and effectively connect residents experiencing mental health and substance use issues to appropriate support and assistance. The grants will also fund educational activities in the communities focused on increasing awareness of available mental health and substance use resources. Recipients will be encouraged to participate in no-cost training, provided by BILH digital health experts, on how to help individuals increase digital literacy and navigate options for mental health and well-being.
“As part of our mission-driven focus, we help improve the health of historically underserved communities by providing opportunities to expand vital services and resources,” said Nancy Kasen, Vice President, Community Benefits and Community Relations, BILH. “Through our Behavioral Health Navigator Program, we address the needs identified and prioritized by the community by assisting residents to connect with the mental health and substance use services they need in their community.”
“BILH recognizes the importance of making investments that address the health care priorities of the communities we serve,” said Jennifer Cullen, MSW, President of Behavioral Services, BILH. “These grants and programs are one example of how we are working to broaden the scope of care to drive access to much-needed mental health and substance use resources in the community.”
Based on its 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) process, working with the community, BILH identified community behavioral health access as the system priority across its Community Benefits Service Area (CBSA). In the spring of 2023, BILH undertook a process to identify opportunities to collaboratively work with community partners to address access to behavioral health care and services.
In response to input from community residents and partners, BILH committed to investing in strategies that amplify mental health topics and foster and fund Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trainings and behavioral health navigation for BILH staff and community residents across its CBSA. These strategies are in addition to the efforts individual BILH hospitals are conducting in collaboration with community partners as part of the FY23-FY25 Implementation Strategy.
The MHFA trainings will teach participants how to recognize, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in adults, giving them the confidence and skills to offer initial support in both non-crisis and crisis situations to those in need and connect them with resources. Several MHFA trainings are scheduled at multiple locations. Visit here to register and learn more.
"Greater Lynn Senior Services has long understood the important connection between mental well-being and overall health, as demonstrated by programs like our pioneering Mobile Mental Health initiative," said Kathryn C. Burns, GLSS' Chief Executive Officer. "We are grateful to Beth Israel Lahey Health for this generous funding, which will allow us to expand these critical supports to serve many of the most vulnerable people living in Lynn."
BILH is preparing for its next Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to identify and prioritize local health and social needs and is asking for the communities’ help in guiding its Community Benefits Strategy for the next three years. Part of the assessment process includes a 10-15 minute community survey translated into 12 languages. Learn more about the process here. To receive future updates about the CHNA process and other Community Benefits programs BILH hospitals are partnering on, sign up to receive quarterly updates here.
About Beth Israel Lahey Health
Beth Israel Lahey Health is a health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,700 physicians and 39,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education. For more information about Beth Israel Lahey Health, please visit www.bilh.org.
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