The landscape of public behavioral health care in Pima County is changing as a new Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) begins overseeing mental health and substance use disorder services on Oct. 1.
The RBHA is responsible for maintaining and managing a network of providers for treatment, support, rehabilitation, prevention and wellness services for individuals and families in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid plan), and for providing crisis-stabilization services to the entire community.
Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA), currently the RBHA, has worked with the new health authority, Cenpatico Integrated Care, to ensure a smooth transition for our members. At the same time, we are transitioning to continue serving our community in other roles.
We at CPSA are proud of our 20 years as the RBHA for Southern Arizona. We were founded in Tucson as a nonprofit with operating principles of consumer and family involvement, recovery, collaboration and community reinvestment.
Through four competitive contract awards from the Arizona Department of Health Services, we developed a web of collaborative relationships with law enforcement, the courts, the education system, the faith-based community, state agencies and other social- and support-service organizations that has improved lives and saved taxpayer dollars.
CPSA created a model care system that has served as inspiration for other communities across the country. We grew from serving more than 17,000 individuals and families in 1995 to serving 54,000 in 2014. We helped create Arizona’s first Mental Health Court, in Tucson City Court (2000), and revived Crisis Intervention Team training for law enforcement and corrections officers.
Our Criminal Justice Team has won national acclaim for its work with mentally ill adults in the justice system, which has reduced the number of days they spend in jail and the number of subsequent offenses through advocacy, collaboration, support and links to treatment.
CPSA led the mental health response after the Jan. 8, 2011, tragedy in which six people were killed and 13 others injured, providing emotional support and ongoing community education about mental illness.
A few months later, in partnership with Pima County, the University of Arizona, law enforcement and service providers, we opened the Crisis Response Center. Each month the center provides face-to-face crisis stabilization services to more than 1,100 adults and children on average, and its call center responds to almost 10,000 crisis-line calls. As a result, Pima County’s first responders can help people access treatment, rather than taking them to jail or emergency departments — a huge issue in other communities across the U.S.
We recently developed a new corporate structure, creating a nonprofit parent company, Community Partners, Inc.; acquiring a nonprofit housing corporation called Mental Health Resources, Inc.; and developing and expanding our outpatient behavioral health clinic, Community Partnership Care Coordination. Though our role will change, we will continue the same great level of service, commitment to high quality care and dedication to serving this community.
Thank you for the last 20 years of support and collaboration. We look forward to new and continuing opportunities to improve lives and support the community of Southern Arizona.
