News Release

WARSAW — Bowen Center has received a $3.9 million grant to expand its services.

The Center was one of 231 Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) across the United States to receive grant funding as a part of the commitment made by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to invest $825 million in CMHCs. That’s to support and expand access to mental health and behavioral support for Americans as they continue to confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CMHCs are community-based facilities or groups of facilities that provide prevention, treatment and rehabilitation mental health services. The grant program will enable CMHCs like Bowen Center to more effectively address the needs of individuals who have a serious emotional disturbance (SED) or serious mental illness (SMI), as well as individuals with SED or SMI and substance use disorders, referred to as a co-occurring disorder (COD).

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from August 2020 through February 2021, the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of anxiety or a depressive disorder increased from 36.4% to 41.5% and the percentage of those reporting an unmet mental health care need increased from 9.2% to 11.7%.

Bowen will use the funds to increase mental health care, case management and addiction recovery treatment. The grant will help augment Bowen’s HIPAA-compliant telehealth capabilities, recruit mental health care professionals and provide additional training and support for staff on behavioral health disparities including cultural and linguistic competence to further assist diverse patient populations.

The grant will also facilitate expanded health care service outreach, which may include a mobile clinic initiative, to rural and vulnerable groups including Amish, Burmese and elderly populations and individuals living in economically disadvantaged communities. Finally, the grant will help expand resources to further address the mental health needs of Bowen staff, which may have arisen as a result of the pandemic.

“We were thrilled when we got word of the award which will allow us to more thoroughly reach underserved populations in our communities,” Bowen Vice President of Healthcare Integration Shannon Hannon said. “There is an urgent need now more than any other time to ensure emotional health care is accessible to all and this grant will allow us to focus on some of the most vulnerable among us.”

“We know vulnerable populations and minorities are overrepresented in the statistics looking at mental illness,” and minorities are overrepresented in the statistics looking at mental illness,” Bowen Senior Vice President of Operations Dr. Robert Ryan said. “Research suggests this is due to poverty, lack of resources, and mistrust of institutions. We wanted to find dollars that allowed us to address these disparities with dignity. Bowen Center’s position has been to connect with these communities and share our resources and knowledge to help communities solve their own problems. These hard-working and vibrant communities don’t need a handout they just need the resources to help themselves. This grant will allow that to happen.”

Bowen Vice President of Human Resources Mary Gerard notes that part of the grant will help the Center attract mental health care professionals.

“Finding providers that come from the communities, who understand the culture, speak the language and grasp exactly how the health care delivery should look and feel is critical. It requires some out-of-the-box thinking to really focus on how we can best meet people where they are,” said Gerard.

Gerard went on to note that the grant dollars will provide the means for Bowen Center to seek out quality providers, recruit, onboard and train them. In addition, she said, “We will be looking for unique ways to reach people who have transportation issues including a simplified video interface and remote patient access.”

Providing greater access to emotional health care for patients and broader supports for staff will help address the extraordinary affects the pandemic will have for years to come medically, emotionally, socially, and economically.

“It’s clear COVID has taken its toll on all of us,” said Ryan. “Improving access to emotional health care and substance use treatment for as many Hoosiers possible, especially those with limited access, will improve outcomes and help people live their best lives. We could not be more ready and able to meet the need.”