The Community Supports Administration at DHS is proud to announce the new name for a combined Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Abuse Divisions:

The Behavioral Health Division

It is our hope that “Behavioral Health” will continue to move the discussion toward health issues that affect people’s behavior and will help us all see the connections between physical health, substance use disorder and mental health. “Behavioral Health” offers inclusivity in that it recognizes the continuum of care (promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery) when it comes to both mental health and substance use disorder. Also, “behavior” not only pertains to individuals but also to the behavior of communities, cultures, and systems.

Plus, we believe “Behavioral Health” is:

• Consistent with national trends and is in common use across the country,
• Clear, not an acronym or jargon, and
• To the point, emphasizing that mental health or substance use disorder is “health” and no different than any other chronic disease.

Throughout this process, we asked for and received extensive stakeholder feedback. We held meetings and engaged through an online survey. Internal staff were consulted and involved throughout the process. Our goal was to communicate the work of the division in a way that promises to be understandable to the most people. While no two or three words will encompass all the facets of what this new division does or all aspects of these issues in our culture, we believe Behavioral Health Division puts us in the best position to move forward as an integrated division with a shared vision.

Integration

We believe that Behavioral Health Division will serve us well into a new future of integration.

DHS has been working to Integrate substance use disorder and mental health into one division for over a year. Substance Use Disorder and mental illness often overlap, and both fields can benefit from greater involvement with and connection to the other. Integration holds a great deal of promise for improving both how care is delivered and outcomes for people being served. Integration allows for:

• Administrative sharing and streamlining
• Contract management improvements
• Improved data reporting
• Better services for cultural and ethnic minorities
• Closer Integration with physical healthcare
• Improved training for providers
• A life-span and family-centered model for behavioral health care
• A behavioral health model of care and conceptual framework
• More community engagement 
• A prevention framework for behavioral health

All with the goal of offering the right services to people as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Thank you!