Advocates urge Arkansas to pursue CCBHC grants, link treatment to homelessness response

A panel of providers and policy analysts urged a state legislative committee to use federal CCBHC grants and other reforms to better address homelessness and untreated behavioral illness in Arkansas.

Paul Webster, a senior fellow at the Cicero Institute, told lawmakers the state receives among the smallest amount of federal Continuum of Care funding per capita and that Arkansas’s point‑in‑time count — roughly 2,500 people statewide, about 1,300 unsheltered — has remained flat while the federal funding level has not produced measurable reductions. “Unless we do something different, you're basically going to get the same results,” Webster said, urging targeted interventions for subpopulations such as those with serious mental illness and substance use disorders.

Webster and other panelists recommended a combination of steps: pursue a SAMHSA planning grant and CCBHC certification statewide, consolidate or competitively pursue Continuum of Care awards so the state can increase accountability over federal dollars, expand data collection and transparency, and adopt outcome‑based payments to hold providers responsible for client progress. “I would very much encourage the state of Arkansas to apply for that SAMHSA grant,” Webster said.

Rusty Hallwick, CEO of Western Arkansas Counseling Guidance Center, described the local CCBHC model and its crisis response teams. Hallwick said his program’s ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) approach produced substantial local improvements: “We have shown, I think, a 79% reduction in homelessness in these people, 70% reduction in time spent in hospitals, 58% reduction in ER visits and 84% less time in correctional facilities and arrests,” he said, citing program outcomes from his clinic.

Local service providers stressed data and coordination as prerequisites for scaling successes. Karen Phillips of Restore Hope and Ben Goodwin of Our House said disparate data systems and uneven HMIS participation by faith‑based providers obscure the scope of need and limit coordinated referrals. Phillips said Restore Hope served 4,500 families last year, more than half of whom were homeless or at risk, and called for clearer statewide data standards so communities can align services better.

Lawmakers pressed the panel on public‑safety concerns tied to unsheltered populations. When the committee asked whether sex offenders are present among unsheltered people, Webster said national estimates put the share of unsheltered individuals with sex‑offender status at about 20% but acknowledged Arkansas’s SORNA compliance gaps and said the state lacked precise, shared data. “Arkansas’s data isn’t shared with the Department of Justice because of those deficiencies in their SORNA compliance,” Webster said.

Several lawmakers asked whether the state could apply to be a statewide Continuum of Care so federal dollars would flow to the state rather than multiple local CoCs. Webster said it is possible: a state that prepares a stronger NOFO application can receive consolidated funding, but doing so would require the state to assume CoC duties and reporting responsibilities.

Panelists also recommended ways to hold providers accountable beyond grant requirements — from pay‑for‑performance tied to earned‑income increases to stronger local enforcement when service sites generate crime or public‑order problems. “We need to make sure that we’re creating public order so those who are coming genuinely to receive services aren’t becoming a drag on the community,” Webster said.

The committee spent about an hour on the briefing and Q&A; members indicated many would follow up with presenters offline to explore grant applications, data standards and options to scale local models.

The committee later moved on to rule reviews on unrelated agency matters and adjourned without a vote on homelessness policy.