Healey highlights community behavioral health centers as an alternative to emergency care

Governor Maura Healey visited Child and Family Services in New Bedford on a Mental Health Awareness Month stop to spotlight Community Behavioral Health Centers and state support for youth mental-health care.

Healey said CBHCs around Massachusetts have served more than 24,000 young people in a single year and that the administration has seen a 63% reduction in boarding in emergency rooms and hospitals for mental-health cases over one year. "That's amazing," she said, calling the results "real impact" measured in both statistics and improved well-being.

Kate Walsh, secretary of Health and Human Services, described how CBHCs operate: same-day or within-an-hour crisis evaluations, mobile crisis teams, youth-specific crisis stabilization units, peer mentors and school partnerships. "CBHCs are a very valuable piece of a continuum of care," Walsh said, and urged people in crisis to call 988 and to visit mass.gov/cbhc to find centers.

Wendy Botello, CEO of Child and Family Services, said the New Bedford center has seen about 10,000 individuals and averages roughly 12 new intakes a day. She credited state funding and the behavioral health road map with eliminating prior wait lists of six to nine months and improving access to care.

Local leaders and state officials framed the centers as an alternative to emergency-room care for mental-health crises and said the administration intends to continue supporting and expanding the CBHC network. The event included a tour of the youth crisis stabilization unit at CFS and closed with a public invitation for questions from attendees.