Only 45.9% of adults with mental illness in Oregon receive any form of treatment from either the public system or private providers (according to SAMHSA). There are a growing number of children, adults, and families in Marion and Polk Counties who are unable to find access to mental health services. Those in need of mental health care often run up against multiple barriers: long waitlists, a lack of providers and qualified specialists, shortages of spots in higher-level treatment and private insurance that often doesn’t cover the necessary care at rates affordable to the average family.
At Connections365, our desire has always been to step in and provide services where they are most needed. So last year when the Behavioral Care Network asked their panel of mental health providers in the area to consider expanding services to help accommodate this need, we eagerly said yes. Providers were asked to participate in a grant expansion project which would award up to $125,000 to providers who applied and met the criteria for funding.
Great news! Six months later, Connections365 Mental Health Services Unit was awarded one of the generous grants and began the process of expanding our services to help care for the mental health of our community. We have increased our outpatient counseling services at our Commercial St location with the addition of three additional mental health therapists. This will allow us to double our ability to provide trauma informed mental health services to our community by roughly 250 new clients each year!
To better assist our new clinicians and clients through their treatment, we will also include a new Mental Health Case Manager to connect clients to resources in the community that address their barriers to accessing and progressing in treatment. Through this expansion, we are even better equipped to fulfill our mission and continue to connect youth and families to the services they so desperately need.