Newport County Community Mental Health Center receives $4M federal grant

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the entire amount of the grant, awarded over two years.

NEWPORT – The Newport County Community Mental Health Center received a $4 million, two-year federal grant to provide expanded and enhanced Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic services, Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., announced Tuesday.

The two-year funding will support services to 24,500 residents. The mental health center will work with its two partners, The Kent Center and Community Care Alliance, to provide the services, expanding behavioral health practices to individuals with serious mental illness, children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances, and young adults with emerging serious mental illness.

The organization also said it will make improvements to its infrastructure and train 500 staff in person-centered care and create a telemedicine program.

The funding will also help provide service to uninsured or underinsured Rhode Islanders.

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“These funds will allow the Newport County Community Mental Health Center to enhance its tireless work supporting Rhode Islanders in need by providing accessible, affordable mental health services,” stated Reed. “We need to do all we can to ensure the accessibility of mental health care services, and this grant will be a welcome step as the center continues to serve individuals with serious mental illness in Rhode Island.”