$2.9M SAMHSA grant awarded to SummitStone
I am so pleased to announce that SummitStone was recently awarded a $2.9 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This grant provides funding for the Bridge Services projects we are working on for Enhanced Medication Assisted Treatment (eMAT), Enhanced Intensive Outpatient (eIOP) treatment, Care Coordination, Outreach, and some bed days at the Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) and Garcia House.
The grant began earlier this month and allows us to bolster our efforts in preparation for the opening of the County’s Behavioral Health Services (BHS) facility in 2023. By ramping up these services now, we’ll be addressing current needs in the community, and we’ll be ready to hit the ground running when the facility opens.
This grant funding is key to closing the behavioral healthcare continuum gap in Larimer County. We know that 10 percent of all adults have a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. Of these, nearly 50 percent do not receive treatment due to cost, access, or stigma associated with the diagnosis. The SAMHSA award will allow us to address these unmet needs, which disproportionately affect LatinX and BIPOC communities. The Bridge Services Funding will also support the expansion of a comprehensive array of evidence-based services for marginalized, underinsured, and underrepresented communities.
Another part of the grant I am particularly excited about is the evaluation component, where we will be able to show the outcomes across the entire Larimer County substance use disorder (SUD) ecosystem, including Jail Based Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), CO-SLAW, and SummitStone. This will allow us to quantitatively demonstrate the positive results that are directly attributable to the hard work from our SummitStone employees and partners.
Additionally, SummitStone, either directly or with a community partner, received several Larimer County BHS Impact grants this month:
• Funding to expand our Community Dual Disorder Treatment (CDDT)
• Funding to add behavioral health to Sunrise Community Health’s School Based Health Clinic in the Thompson School District
• Funding for the DA’s Office, Adult Mental Health Diversion, to work with SummitStone and expand Behavioral Health Programming
This year has been a challenging, yet exciting time for behavioral healthcare. With unprecedented support from federal, state and local funding agencies, the future is truly bright, and I am so grateful to have so much support from our community and our partners. Together we are making a profound impact on the quality of life in Northern Colorado and beyond.
Yours in good health,
Michael G. Allen, MBA, LCSW, CAS