SAMHSA awards Upstate Cerebral Palsy $3.7 million for mental-health services

UTICA, N.Y. — Upstate Cerebral Palsy’s Community Health and Behavioral Services (CHBS) will use a two-year, $3.7 million federal grant to enhance behavioral-health services delivered at CHBS.

The grant funding comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Upstate Cerebral Palsy is a health and human-services organization and an affiliate of Upstate Caring Partners, Inc., per its news release. CHBS has locations in Utica and Rome and offers behavioral-health services to children and adults.

“Compounded by the negative impact of COVID-19,” CHBS sees a “significant need” to improve the disparities in behavioral-health services and outcomes for vulnerable populations. To address health disparities and better serve frontline staff, CHBS will “establish, strengthen, and sustain the infrastructure necessary” to provide audio-visual telehealth capabilities by establishing telehealth pods and better equipping staff to deliver remote care.

With the grant funding, CHBS has goals that include increasing access to behavioral-health care; enhancing recovery-support services; increasing availability of high-quality behavioral-health services and “culturally competent, trauma-informed” care staff in the region; and increasing staff wellness and satisfaction.

“We are very excited to have this opportunity to enhance our behavioral health services for the individuals we serve,” Jenni Barlow-Gagnon, senior VP of behavioral health services at CHBS, said. “Specifically, we look forward to this funding improving the methods in which we deliver care through telehealth and improving the methods in which we deliver care to underserved individuals.”