by Matt Hadro,

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced on Tuesday that CPC Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. was awarded a $2 million federal grant to expand its services for those with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

“I am pleased to announce this grant funding, which will go to support critical mental health and substance abuse treatment at CPC Behavioral,” Smith said. “Amidst rising rates of mental illness and substance abuse—especially in the opioid epidemic—we need robust funding of comprehensive, affordable mental health care to aid the families of those struggling with these disorders.”

“CCBHC expansion funds, beginning September 30, 2018, will enable CPC to decrease the wait for mental health and substance use services for children and adults living in Ocean County and offer a full continuum of services provided by licensed clinicians, psychiatrists and care managers,” said Vera Sansone, CEO of CPC, the largest community behavioral health care provider in Monmouth County serving approximately 9,000 people each year. It is a two-year pilot project (July 2017-June 2019) designed to offer a full continuum of mental health and substance use services and increase access to quality care.

CPC Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., is a federally-designated Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, part of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with locations in Red Bank/Middletown, Howell, Freehold, and Aberdeen. It was awarded a grant for $2 million by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) Expansion Grants program.

CPC Behavioral opened a new treatment office in Howell in April, and plans to open another office in Neptune by year’s end. With the award of the new grant, CPC will be able to expand its program to Ocean County residents, grounded in research and best practices that foster treatment of both opioid addiction and physical health, mental health and substance abuse disorders in an integrated and individualized manner to promote long term, sustainable recovery.

The CCBHC grant program seeks to expand services at clinics that treat those with serious mental illness, substance abuse disorders including opioid abuse, those with co-occurring disorders, and teens with serious emotional disturbance. The program seeks to fulfill the recommendations made to Congress by the Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC), which was created by the 21st Century Cures Act.

Smith voted for the 21st Century Cures Act, bipartisan legislation which made significant reforms to the mental health system by increasing funding for biomedical research, coordinating interagency data collection and sharing, and helping the FDA speed up its process of bringing therapies and treatments to market.

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