Communicare recieves long-term funding designation
Published 2:47 pm Friday, June 5, 2026
Communicare has been selected as one of Mississippi’s pilot sites for the federal Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Medicaid Demonstration Program, a designation that provides sustainable, long-term funding for mental health, addiction, crisis and primary care services across north Mississippi.
The selection follows the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ recent announcement naming Mississippi and nine other states to the program.
Communicare offers mental health treatment, substance use treatment, primary care, IDD services, school-based services, and 24-hour crisis services across Calhoun, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Tate, and Yalobusha counties.
For Communicare, the designation strengthens a system that already provides a significant level of uncompensated care. Of the more than 122,000 services delivered by the organization last year, nearly $9.65 million was provided at no cost to patients who could not afford to pay.
As one of the state’s early CCBHC providers, Communicare says the demonstration program will help expand access to care, reduce barriers for patients and provide a more stable funding structure to support services throughout the region.
The CCBHC model reimburses clinics through Medicaid for the true cost of comprehensive care, replacing time-limited grants with a dependable source of funding.
CCBHCs are required to serve everyone seeking mental health or substance use care, regardless of their ability to pay, where they live, or their age.
Having 24/7 crisis care is a federal requirement of the model, which reinforces the crisis services that admitted 389 people to Communicare’s Crisis Stabilization Unit, 428 to Haven House, and answered the call for 988 mental health crises in 2025.
CCBHCs must meet federal standards for timely outpatient appointments, so individuals and families spend less time waiting for the help they need.
Mental health, substance use treatment, primary care, services for intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and school-based care all coordinated together, close to home.
Sustainable funding strengthens workforce capacity in a region that historically faces provider shortages, building on the 98 new team members Communicare hired in 2025 to better serve the community.
“Being awarded the CCBHC demonstration grant will be transformational for the State of Mississippi,” said Dr. Melody Madaris, Executive Director of Communicare. “This program will allow us to expand access, strengthen workforce capacity, and improve service quality, all while building a more responsive system of care to meet the whole health needs of individuals and families, no matter their ability to pay for services.”
Learn more at communicarems.org.