The Oregon Legislature is considering HB 3123, a bill to provide state matching funds for the continuation of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) through 2023.

CCBHCs were created to improve access to behavioral health and substance use disorder treatments for Oregonians, regardless of their ability to pay for the services, and regardless of whether the State provides Medicaid coverage for those services. 

In 2016, Oregon was one of eight states granted federal awards to establish CCHBCs.

As a result of the federal Excellence in Mental Health Act, CCBHCs seek to provide integrated health services that focus on stabilizing those with severe mental illnesses and addictions, through trauma-informed and wellness-based care. Currently, there are CCBHCs in Columbia, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Multnomah, Wallowa, Wasco, Washington, and Yamhill counties. 

CCBHCs are required to provide core integrated behavioral health services, including:

  • Crisis mental health services such as 24-hour mobile crisis teams, emergency crisis intervention, and crisis stabilization
  • Patient-centered treatment planning
  • Outpatient mental health and substance use services
  • Primary care screening and monitoring
  • Targeted case-management
  • Psychiatric rehabilitation services
  • Peer, counseling, and family support services
  • Connections with other providers and systems (criminal justice, foster care, child welfare, education, primary care, hospitals, etc.)

The federal grant award in 2016 was provided to 12 CCBHCs for a one year planning period, and in 2018, additional grant funding was provided for implementation of the program. Every year since 2018, the federal government has extended the demonstration period, where, in order to participate, states must provide matching funds, at a four-to-one (federal-to-state) rate. In the most recent federal stimulus package, the federal government approved the extension to continue through September 2023.

Oregon’s current match for CCBHCs is authorized through the end of Oregon’s fiscal biennium (July 2021). AOC supports CCBHCs and will advocate for continued funding through the federal program extension. 

HB 3123, first heard in the House Committee on Behavioral Health on February 24, would authorize the four-to-one federal match through State General Fund dollars maintaining the existing CCBHCs in Oregon. The program has saved millions of dollars on diverting those in crisis from the State Hospital and emergency departments, and will continue to provide what is considered the gold standard of behavioral health treatments. 

To view the bill and AOC’s testimony, click here.

Contributed by: Lizzy Atwood Wills | Legislative Affairs Manager