Baker-Polito Administration Marks Opening of Community Behavioral Health Centers

BOSTON — Last week, the Baker-Polito administration highlighted eight years of progress strengthening access to behavioral-health services in Massachusetts at a ribbon cutting for a newly designated Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) in East Boston run by North Suffolk Community Services.

Opening in early January as part of the implementation of the state’s Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform, 25 designated CBHCs across the Commonwealth will offer comprehensive, coordinated mental healthcare, substance-use-disorder treatment, and community-based crisis intervention to all Massachusetts residents, regardless of ability to pay.

The CBHCs in Western Mass. are being operated by Behavioral Health Network, the Brien Center, the Center for Human Development, and Clinical & Support Options.

“Over the past eight years, our administration has collaborated with healthcare providers, medical professionals, and our legislative colleagues to make sure Massachusetts treats behavioral health with the same importance as physical health,” Gov. Charlie Baker said. “The implementation of the Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform is the latest step in those efforts, which have included historic investments in clinical programming, the addition of over 3,000 treatment beds, and landmark mental-health legislation.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders added that, “since day one, this administration has made behavioral health a priority, and when we talk about health, it is whole health: physical and mental. Through the Roadmap for Behavioral Health reform, including newly designated Community Behavioral Health Centers such as this one and the soon-to-launch Behavioral Health Help Line, we are creating a true front door to behavioral healthcare, so that every Massachusetts resident has access to high-quality behavioral-health treatment, when and where they need it.”