Mar 3, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded more than $4.6 million to 39 hospitals with emergency departments (EDs), each receiving $120,000 to train behavioral health navigators to help expand access to substance use disorder and mental health services. The awards are part of DHCS’ CalBridge Behavioral Health Navigator Program. To date, 282 hospitals have received funding under CalBridge.
“People with substance use disorders deserve 24/7 high-quality care in every California health system,” said California Health & Human Services (CalHHS) Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. “This program seeks to fully integrate addiction treatment into standard medical practice, increasing access to treatment and saving lives.”
“Behavioral health navigators serve as a critical link for bridging patients with needed community substance use and mental health services, and they are integral to our statewide efforts to combat the opioid crisis and address the systemic need for expanded patient care after an emergency room visit,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
How Grants Help
California general acute care hospitals with EDs (comprehensive, basic, or standby) that receive funding can:
- Establish and train behavioral health navigators to increase patient access to care.
- Identify, screen, and interview patients with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions and link them to appropriate treatment.
- Implement consistent delivery of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT).
- Adopt new models for reaching historically disadvantaged populations.
- Build an environment that welcomes disclosure of substance use and provides rapid evidence-based treatment.
Why This is Important
These awards are part of a larger effort by CalHHS to strengthen California’s health and human services workforce. CalBridge aims to train and expand the ED workforce to address the urgent need for behavioral health patient care.
By increasing the number of behavioral health navigators in EDs, people with a substance use or opioid use disorder, or who are experiencing a mental health crisis, will have access to appropriate care to address their needs. CalBridge supports all participating hospitals with access to materials, training, and technical assistance for navigators, clinicians, nurses, community health workers, and other hospital staff and stakeholders.
Additional Background
CalBridge is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 under key initiatives for Medi-Cal’s Home and Community-Based Services.
Opioid drug overdose deaths totaled 7,175 in California in 2021, with 21,016 ED visits related to an opioid overdose. Addiction and mental illnesses sometimes result in life-or-death emergencies, so it is imperative that EDs provide evidence-based treatment in all communities.
Since coming into office, Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent harm in the first place.
In fiscal year 2022-23, DHCS is investing more than $558 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities. Today’s grant and RFA announcements are just two of several efforts made by DHCS in recent months to tackle SUDs/OUDs, including:
Feb 28, 2023
Over the past decade, California has seen a significant increase in fentanyl-involved overdose deaths, which accounted for 55 percent of all drug-related overdose deaths in 2021. Even in small doses, fentanyl can be deadly, and many people may be unaware that their drugs are laced with fentanyl. Testing drugs with fentanyl test strips can help prevent overdoses and save lives.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has various resources where you can learn more about fentanyl test strips:
For more information about fentanyl and its impact on California, please visit CDPH’s website.
Feb 24, 2023
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in partnership with The Center, is pleased to announce a funding opportunity to improve access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) services within nonprofit DHCS-licensed substance use disorder (SUD) facilities.
Funding will support recruitment, mentorship, training and other associated costs to increase provider knowledge and comfort with delivering MAT. The effort is a collaborative learning opportunity for facilities to implement best practices. Applicants may apply for one of three tracks:
Track One: Initiating MAT Services
This track is for DHCS-licensed residential SUD facilities that have Incidental Medical Services (IMS) certification or will receive IMS certification within six months of the project start date, but do not currently have a MAT prescriber on site or do not offer MAT services on site.
Track Two: Expanding Existing MAT Services
This track is for DHCS-licensed residential SUD facilities with IMS certification that already have Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedule III Prescriber(s) onsite and want to increase the expertise of the current MAT prescribers and expand services.
Track Three: Centers of Excellence
This track is for DHCS-licensed residential SUD facilities with IMS certification that already have DEA Schedule III prescriber(s) onsite and can act as a Center of Excellence by offering technical assistance and mentorship to other DHCS-licensed residential SUD facilities.
Applications are due by Wednesday, March 15, at 1 p.m. PT.
Application Materials
The Center will assist DHCS with the administration of these funds. Please email centergrants@shfcenter.org with any questions.
Feb 22, 2023
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is releasing a Request for Applications (RFA) to meet the opioid use disorder (OUD) and substance use disorder (SUD) needs of California’s tribal and urban Indian communities. Through this California Native Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) Network for Healing and Recovery, hereafter referred to as Native MAT Network, and formerly titled Learning Community: Tribal and Urban Indian Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder and Psychoactive Stimulant Use Disorder, DHCS continues to support increasing culturally competent OUD treatment services in California tribal and urban Indian communities.
This funding is particularly focused on tribal and urban Indian communities in California because of the racial and health disparities impacting substance use, prevention and treatment services. Awarded funds will support the planning and implementation of culturally responsive MAT services for opioid use disorder for tribal and urban Indian communities throughout the state.
Applications are due Monday, March 6, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. PST.
Application Information:
Send questions and inquiries related to this funding opportunity to mataccesspoints@shfcenter.org with the subject line: Native MAT Network RFA Question.
Feb 21, 2023
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is releasing a Request for Applications (RFA) to meet the opioid use disorder (OUD) and substance use disorder (SUD) needs of California’s tribal and urban Indian communities. A component of the Tribal Medication-Assisted Treatment (TMAT) project, the Tribal and Urban Indian Community-Defined Best Practices program will support best-practice knowledge exchange for the enhancement of services for the prevention and treatment of, and recovery from, OUD and other co-occurring SUDs in tribal and urban Indian communities. Tribal entities may apply to receive up to $150,000 from May 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024, to support the identification of cultural and traditional healing and recovery practices and their integration into developing or existing tribal and urban Indian health programs for substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
A webinar for interested applicants was held on February 14, 2023. A recording of the webinar and the presentation slides are available on the MAT Access Points Project Website.
Applications are due Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. PST.
Application Information:
Send questions and inquiries related to this funding opportunity to mataccesspoints@shfcenter.org with the subject line: TUICDBP RFA Question.
