Dawn Allen, MPA
Across Rhode Island, there has been a shared commitment in recent years to strengthening our behavioral health system, expanding access, improving coordination, and ensuring people can get the care they need, when they need it.
One of the ways the state has moved that work forward is through the implementation of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). Today, eight organizations across Rhode Island are part of this model, each serving different regions and populations.
At Thrive Behavioral Health, which serves Kent County, we’ve been operating a CCBHC for nearly a year and a half.
With that milestone comes something equally important, the opportunity to reflect on what the data is beginning to show.
While 17 months is only an early snapshot, the results we are seeing are encouraging and offer useful insight into how this model is functioning in practice.
Access to care is one area where the impact is already visible. Since becoming a CCBHC, we’ve seen a 60 percent increase in client intakes, connecting more individuals and families to services across Kent County. In total, more than 3,700 Rhode Islanders received care through our services last year.
That increase reflects a model designed to meet people where they are, with an emphasis on accessibility and a “no wrong door” approach. Individuals can enter care through multiple pathways and receive support regardless of their circumstances.
Equally important are the outcomes associated with that access.
Over the past year, we’ve seen a 28% increase in clients reporting improved overall mental health, along with a 19% increase in those able to remain in their homes and communities, outcomes that reflect greater stability and continuity of care. These are meaningful indicators, particularly in a field where progress is often measured over time and across many touchpoints.
The data also suggests progress in how care is coordinated across the broader system.
In Kent County, there has been a reduction in emergency department utilization among adults, alongside strong rates of connection to care for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. These trends point to the value of integrating crisis response, outpatient services, and community-based supports in a more coordinated way.
The CCBHC model is designed to support exactly that kind of coordination. It brings together a comprehensive range of services, emphasizes partnerships with other providers and systems, and aligns funding in a way that supports continuity of care.
Each of Rhode Island’s CCBHCs serves a different community, and continued evaluation across all sites will be essential to understanding the full impact of the model. At the same time, early data like this plays an important role. It helps inform decision-making, highlights areas of progress, and identifies opportunities to continue strengthening the system.
Behavioral health care is complex, and meaningful change does not happen overnight. But it does happen through thoughtful implementation, collaboration, and a willingness to learn from what the data is telling us.
More than a year in, the CCBHC model is offering a clearer picture of what coordinated, community-based behavioral health care can look like in Rhode Island.
Sustaining that progress will require continued commitment, including stable, long-term funding that allows providers to maintain and expand access to care. With thoughtful support from policymakers and continued collaboration across the system, Rhode Island has an opportunity to build on this early momentum and ensure these gains are not temporary, but lasting.
Dawn Allen is the President and CEO of Thrive Behavioral Health in Warwick.