Tips for a Successful T-CCBHC Application

General Tips

Below are general tips intended to aid potential Texas Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (T-CCBHC)for a successful certification or recertification application:

  • Ensure your organization is ready to undertake the certification process. Before submitting materials to HHSC, organizations must review and amend policies and procedures to align with T-CCBHC standards, operationalize changes, and educate your organization’s staff on the T-CCBHC model. Engage your organization’s staff early in the process.
  • Do not approach the process as a "checklist." The T-CCBHC model will likely require your organization to change aspects of how you operate and should be approached through a change management lens.
  • Do not copy and paste T-CCBHC criteria language into policies and procedures. Reviewers need to see how criteria are operationalized, so additional details, and in some cases examples, are necessary.
  • Ensure submission materials demonstrate compliance with all parts of criterion, which may include a number of requirements.
  • Submit complete and searchable documents to ensure reviewers are able to find all information relevant to T-CCBHC criterion.
  • Submit a crosswalk indicating which documents fulfill each criterion and a short narrative (approximately 1 paragraph) describing how documents fulfill the criteria and providing additional detail when necessary. When possible, mark relevant document sections to point reviewers to the information specific to each criterion.

Needs Assessment

All T-CCHBCs must have a needs assessment updated at least once every three years. The needs assessment should be targeted at the community served by the organization and include demographic information, such as age, gender, race/ethnicity; any special challenges the community faces (e.g., transportation); any special needs the community has (e.g., language services); and other information used in determining services, hours, staffing, or other needs the organization can address.

Staffing

T-CCBHCs must have staffing levels reflective of the needs of the community they serve. Communities grow and change over time, and staff and T-CCBHC locations should reflect such changes. T-CCBHCs must have a process to determine staffing levels based on the community needs assessment. This process is continuously influenced by the changing needs of the population being served.

Availability and Accessibility of Services

T-CCBHCs must deliver services regardless of payment source, ability to pay or place of residence. T-CCBHCs must also coordinate efforts with other service providers.

T-CCBHCs or formal partners must deliver services to members of the armed forces and veterans.

Care Coordination

T-CCBHCs must have formal agreements with other entities that may serve the same populations. T-CCBHCs must submit memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and other agreements with community partners – including primary care providers, local veterans' services organizations, school districts, social service organizations, and others.

Scope of Services

T-CCBHCs must deliver the following services directly:

  • Crisis services (T-CCBHCs that are not local mental or behavioral health authorities may be required to partner with their local authority for delivery of crisis services)
  • Screening assessment and diagnosis
  • Patient-centered treatment planning
  • Comprehensive outpatient mental health and substance use services

T-CCBHCs must deliver the following services directly or through a formal partnership:

  • Outpatient primary care screening and monitoring of key health indicators and health risks
  • Targeted case management
  • Psychiatric rehabilitation services, defined as mental health rehabilitation
  • Peer support services

T-CCBHCs must deliver the following evidence-based practices (EBPs), which were chosen based on statewide needs assessment findings and alignment with other Texas program initiatives:

  • Adult Specific EBPs:
    • SAMHSA Assertive Community Treatment
    • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (s)
    • SAMHSA Illness Management and Recovery
    • SAMHSA Integrated Treatment for Co-occurring Disorders
    • SAMHSA Supported Employment and Permanent Supportive Housing
  • Child/Adolescent Specific EBPs:
    • Nurturing Parent Training
    • Trauma Focused CBT
    • Case Management using the National Wraparound Implementation Center’s Wraparound model, when indicated
  • Applicable to all populations:
    • Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment model
    • Motivational Interviewing
    • Person-Centered Recovery Planning
    • Seeking Safety

Quality and Other Reporting

T-CCBHCs must implement a continuous quality improvement plan and report specific data and quality measures.

Organizational Authority, Governance and Accreditation

T-CCBHCs must ensure meaningful consumer participation in governing bodies of the organization. If a T-CCBHC’s governing board membership is dictated by a local or county government, an alternative advisory board must be created with more than 50 percent participation of people receiving services, people in recovery, and their family members. The advisory board must provide meaningful input on service quality and delivery, and must be representative of the diverse populations served.