Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services: Community Behavioral Health

COMMUNITY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (CBH)

Community Behavioral Health is the largest behavioral health managed care organization in the country devoted to serving public sector consumers and the only one operated by a governmental body. It has been in operation since February 1997.

A non-profit, 501c(3) corporation, CBH is under contract with the city to provide in-plan (that is, Medicaid reimbursed) mental health and substance abuse treatment services to all Medicaid recipients in Philadelphia County. CBH in turn has contracted with almost 300 area treatment providers, offering the full spectrum of services to adults, children and adolescents. Any city resident who calls Community Behavioral Health, whether a recipient of Medicaid or not, is assisted to obtain care from all programs for which they are eligible.

CBH "in-plan" benefits include, but are not limited to:

Psychiatric inpatient hospital services

Inpatient drug and alcohol treatment

Residential, non-hospital detoxification and rehabilitation for addictions

Residential, non-hospital psychiatric treatment for children

Psychiatric partial hospitalization

Intensive outpatient clinics for drug and alcohol treatment

Behavioral health rehabilitation services

Outpatient mental health services

Intensive case management

Methadone and laboratory testing

CBH makes extensive efforts to ensure access to services for persons whose first language is not English - including immigrants from Southeast Asia, Spanish-speaking countries, Russia, Eastern Europe and Africa. Persons of color make up half of all CBH staff. In addition to its efforts to provide quality, cost-effective care, CBH has actively sought to hire individuals previously on welfare.

CBH works with the HMOs in Philadelphia County to coordinate physical and behavioral health care for Medicaid recipients. Together, these organizations have worked to develop specialized plans for members with multiple needs, such as persons with HIV, drug-addicted pregnant women, or persons with mental retardation, physical disabilities or a co-occurring addiction and mental illness.

As a core component of the city's Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services, CBH works with its network of treatment providers to promote collaboration, joint training, information-sharing and confidentiality. It also facilitates cooperation between providers and city social services, such as the:

Criminal Justice System
Department of Human Services - Children and Youth Division
Juvenile Probation Department of Family Court
Philadelphia Office of Mental Retardation
Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
School District of Philadelphia.

For more information, please contact:

Community Behavioral Health
Nancy Lucas
Chief Executive Officer
801 Market St.
7th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 413-3100