The California Department of Health Care Services has announced that it is awarding grant funds to 212 general acute hospitals through the Behavioral Health Pilot Project (BHPP). The BHPP will support nearly two-thirds of California’s hospitals with hiring and training behavioral health counselors to connect individuals with mental health and substance use treatment in the emergency department.
The BHPP is based on the successful CA Bridge program that combines Medication for Addiction Treatment (MAT) in hospital emergency departments with support from a substance use counselor to help people get into ongoing substance use treatment. DHCS will continue to work with the CA Bridge program to support BHPP grantees with training, education, resources and data collection.
Please see the BHPP Cover Letter for an overview of the project and the List of Awardees to see participating hospitals. Awarded organizations may also apply for Supplemental Funding if they received an award totaling less than $100,000.