As policymakers search for solutions to the nation’s mental health and substance use crisis, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) represent one of the most promising opportunities for meaningful system change. CCBHCs were established through the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 to create a new model for delivering comprehensive community-based behavioral health services. Unlike traditional behavioral health providers, CCBHCs are required to offer a broad range of coordinated services, including mental health treatment, substance use disorder services, crisis care, care coordination, and connections to physical health and social services.
At their core, CCBHCs are designed to address a longstanding problem in behavioral health: patients often need services that extend beyond the walls of a clinic. Effective care requires coordination with hospitals, primary care providers, social service organizations, schools, criminal justice systems, and community partners. The CCBHC model recognizes that improving behavioral health outcomes requires an integrated approach rather than isolated treatment episodes.
Why the Model Is Gaining Momentum
CCBHCs have existed for years, but the model is receiving renewed attention because the results are becoming harder to ignore. The federal demonstration program was initially launched in eight states and has expanded multiple times through congressional action. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act authorized a nationwide expansion pathway, allowing states across the country to apply for planning grants and demonstration participation. More recently, additional states have been selected to join the demonstration program, reflecting growing bipartisan support for the model.
Research conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that the demonstration program has improved access to care, strengthened care coordination, and expanded the scope of services available to Medicaid beneficiaries. The model’s emphasis on comprehensive care, quality measurement, and accountability has helped distinguish it from many previous behavioral health funding initiatives.
This growing evidence base matters because states face increasing pressure to demonstrate that public investments produce measurable results. Medicaid dollars are under intense scrutiny, and policymakers understandably want proof that additional funding leads to better outcomes.
The Real Opportunity: Transforming the Care Model
As states increasingly look for ways to improve access, strengthen accountability, and demonstrate value, the focus must shift from simply expanding services to transforming the care model itself. For decades, behavioral health has struggled with fragmented delivery systems, disconnected funding streams, and outdated infrastructure, making it difficult to modernize at the same pace as the rest of the healthcare system. This challenge mirrors the transformation journey of primary care through the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model.
The shift to more patient-centered, coordinated primary care represented a broader effort to transform how primary care is delivered by emphasizing team-based care, population health management, continuous quality improvement, and stronger patient engagement. That transformation required years of investment, refinement, and collaboration among providers, payers, policymakers, and other healthcare stakeholders. Today, many of these principles are embedded in value-based care strategies, reflecting an evolution toward more coordinated, accountable, and patient-centered care.
Behavioral health is now at a similar inflection point.
Accreditation Should Drive Change, Not Simply Verify Compliance
Historically, accreditation for behavioral health clinics has often focused on whether organizations have the right policies, procedures, and infrastructure in place. Those assessments serve an important purpose, but they rarely answer the question that matters most to patients, providers, and taxpayers: Is the quality of care actually improving?
CCBHC accreditation should be a catalyst for redesigning how behavioral healthcare services are delivered. That means strengthening partnerships between providers and communities, improving care coordination, advancing measurement and accountability, and ensuring that services are organized around the needs of patients.
CCBHCs have the potential to redefine community behavioral health. Realizing that potential will require accreditation programs that reward meaningful progress, support continuous improvement, and help organizations build the capabilities needed for long-term success.
The goal is not to pass a survey. The goal is to transform behavioral healthcare.
Policy Levers Shaping the Next Chapter
Several policies and funding mechanisms create opportunities for states to expand behavioral health transformation.
First, the CCBHC demonstration program continues to serve as a primary pathway for innovation. Planning grants allow states to build infrastructure and prepare for implementation, while demonstration status provides access to enhanced Medicaid financing models.
Second, states are increasingly exploring broader behavioral health investments through Medicaid reform initiatives, rural health transformation funding, and other state-directed financing strategies. Rural communities face unique workforce shortages, transportation barriers, and provider access challenges. Funding streams aimed at rural health transformation create opportunities to expand the reach of CCBHCs into underserved areas and connect behavioral health services to broader community health goals.
Third, quality measurement is becoming a more prominent policy lever. CCBHCs are required to report quality measures to demonstrate performance and accountability. As states become more sophisticated in using data to evaluate programs, reporting and measurement capabilities will become increasingly important — not simply for compliance, but for continuous improvement.
Finally, interoperability and data exchange are emerging as critical enablers. Behavioral health providers have historically been left behind in health IT modernization efforts. Future success will depend on creating connected systems that allow behavioral health, primary care, and community organizations to coordinate care and share meaningful information. As states evaluate multiple behavioral health initiatives simultaneously, interoperability will become less of a technology project and more of a care transformation strategy.
The question states face today is no longer whether CCBHCs work. The evidence increasingly suggests they do. The question is how states, federal agencies, and healthcare leaders can build upon that momentum to transform behavioral healthcare on a larger scale.
Tom Curtis is Director of State Affairs at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
