Behavioral Health Information & Resources
Behavioral health refers to mental health and substance abuse (alcohol and drug) treatment. If you need help with a behavioral health concern, you should call your doctor or Arizona Complete Health-Complete Care Plan. We have a group of mental health and substance abuse specialists to help you.
You do not have to get a referral from your doctor for these services. Arizona Complete Health-Complete Care Plan will help you find the best provider. Call the number on the back of your member ID card to get help right away, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Admission, Continued Stay, and Discharge Criteria
Arizona Complete Health-Complete Care Plan and Behavioral Health in our Schools
Are you or someone you know experiencing a behavioral health crisis?
Call the statewide crisis line. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Crisis services are available to anyone in Arizona, even if you do not have health insurance coverage.
What Is Covered?
Any person living in Arizona can receive crisis services. These may be telephone conversations, community-based mobile services, and facility-based stabilization sites.
Help might be needed if you:
- Can’t cope with daily life.
- Feel very sad, stressed, or worried.
- Are not sleeping or eating well.
- Want to hurt yourself or others or have thoughts about hurting yourself.
- Are troubled by strange thoughts (such as hearing voices).
- Drink or use other substances more than usual.
- Have problems at work or at home.
- Seem to be having problems at school.
Arizona Complete Health-Complete Care Plan allocates grant funding for Behavioral Health Providers to work with schools and provide services to children and families.
Schools and Behavioral Health Providers Working To:
- Raise Awareness of Available Services.
- Make It Easier to Access Services.
- Strengthen the Network of Care to Meet Children’s Needs.
- Increase Support for Children and Families
Maximizing Access Behavioral Health Services: No Wrong Door
To make it as easy as possible to connect to behavioral health services, we use the “No Wrong Door” approach, making it easier for children and families to get connected to services from anywhere. This allows the child and family to make informed decisions as to their choice of provider, where they would like to receive services, and how often.
Children’s Behavioral Health Services Fund (CBHSF)
The Arizona state legislature awarded funding to the Children’s Behavioral Health Services Fund in 2020. This one-time funding of approximately $8 million was divided between the North, Central, and Southern Regional Behavioral Health Authorities. The Children’s Behavioral Health Services Fund was fully expended by the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Though this funding is currently unavailable, Behavior Health Providers continue to serve children in schools through Medicaid funding and/or Mental Health Block Grant – Serious Emotional Disturbance (MHBG-SED) funding.
The Youth Engagement Specialist (YES) Program
The Youth Engagement Specialist (YES) program serves children in elementary, middle, and high schools throughout Arizona. Arizona Complete Health-Complete Care Plan funds the YES program through Mental Health Block Grant dollars
Parents, teachers, and school staff can make referrals to the YES program by identifying qualifying students. An eligible student would be identified as needing behavioral health services to better function in school and in their community.
These providers work in hundreds of schools throughout Arizona.
Since the implementation of the YES program in 2019, YES program providers have received over 11,000 referrals from schools in Arizona. This program continues to grow each year.
For more information
If a school, school district, or behavioral health provider would like more information on obtaining a behavioral health partnership in their community, please contact us.
You can also visit AHCCCS to find out more about Accessing Behavioral Health Services in Schools.