The Shadow
RICHMOND — Virginia’s 40 community services boards now have same-day access available to residents seeking mental health services in their communities.
A person in need of a mental health evaluation can now access walk-in hours at any CSB throughout Virginia without an appointment, instead of waiting days or even weeks to receive an assessment.
Same day access marks a dramatic shift from addressing mental health needs only when a crisis occurs to utilizing preventive care to help avoid emergencies and hospital admissions.
“Every person in Virginia should be able to access quality public behavioral health services, no matter who they are, how much money they make, or their insurance status,” said Gov. Ralph Northam.
“Virginia’s Community Service Boards are the front line providers of mental health treatment, and when someone is in urgent need of clinical services, it is important that they receive care in a timely manner. Same day access removes many of the barriers to mental health care and helps individuals get treatment wherever they may live in the commonwealth,” Northam said.
In 2017, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed a bill requiring all 40 of the locally-run CSBs to provide same-day access, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) began implementation in an initial group of 18 CSBs.
In 2018, Northam and the General Assembly provided funds for the remaining 22 CSBs to implement same day access.
“Implementing same day access is a critical step forward in our efforts to improve Virginia’s behavioral health system, and it is one that came through a tremendous amount of hard work and collaboration,” said Secretary of Health and Human Resources Daniel Carey, M.D.
Same day access allows a person who calls or appears at a CSB during SDA hours of operation to be assessed that same day instead of potentially waiting weeks for a mental health appointment.
Based on that assessment, the person is then scheduled for appropriate initial treatment within 10 days.
This best practice virtually eliminates “no show” appointments, increases adherence to follow-up appointments, reduces the wait time for appointments, and makes more cost-effective use of staff resources. These results help Virginians access mental health care services right where they live with as few barriers as possible.
“When someone makes the decision to seek treatment for behavioral health issues, we have an obligation as public health providers to make that process as efficient and accessible as we can,” said S. Hughes Melton, M.D., MBA, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Commissioner. “Same day access fulfills this goal by delivering the right health care at the right time in the right place.”
