About

CCBHC

The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish criteria for clinics to be certified as Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). In 2015, HHS issued the original CCBHC certification criteria which established a set of uniform standards that providers must meet to be a CCBHC.

There are 133 standards in six areas that an organization must meet to achieve CCBHC designation:

The standards were used by the initial eight states participating in the Section 223 CCBHC Demonstration program to certify 67 CCBHCs in 2016. Today, there are over 500 CCBHCs across 48 U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia. CCBHCs across the country are transforming systems by providing comprehensive, coordinated, trauma-informed, and recovery-oriented care for mental health and substance use conditions.

Plains was funded in 2020 and in 2022 by SAMHSA expansion grants. As an expansion grantee Plains self-attested to compliance with the certification criteria.  

In 2022 federal funding was allocated to expand the number of states selected for the demonstration program. The goals are to:

The State of Iowa was awarded Demonstration status as of June 2024. Plains was selected by the State of Iowa to participate in the Demonstration program.

The primary goal of the CCBHC program is to increase access to mental health and substance use care for underserved communities.

CCBHCs provide:

Nine core services are required to be provided either directly by the CCBHC or through formal partnerships. Those core services are:

  1. Crisis Services, 
  2. Screening, Diagnosis & Risk Assessment, 
  3. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, 
  4. Outpatient Primary Care Screening & Monitoring, 
  5. Targeted Case Management, 
  6. Peer, Family Support & Counselor Services, 
  7. Community-Based Mental Health Care for Veterans, 
  8. Person- & Family-Centered Treatment Planning, 
  9. Outpatient Mental Health & Substance Use Services.

CCBHCs were created to transform mental health and substance use treatment across the country and provide sustainable funding for robust community outpatient mental health treatment. Plains is proud to be a CCBHC.CCBHCs were created to transform mental health and substance use treatment across the country and provide sustainable funding for robust community outpatient mental health treatment. Plains is proud to be a CCBHC.