Rural Access to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs)

View Policy Brief

05/2025

This study compares access to, and services offered by, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) in rural and urban communities. The increasing numbers of CCBHCs in rural communities combined with their range of offered services holds promise towards increasing the availability of care for rural communities within an integrated model.

Key Findings:

• The number of CCBHCs expanded from 2022 to 2023, increasing from 371 to 480. Most of the growth was driven by rural counties (57.9% increase, 126 to 199) while urban counties increased by 14.7% (245 to 281).
• The number of services offered at CCBHCs is similar in both rural and urban localities, but urban CCBHCs were more likely to offer services that cater to a diverse client base, such as speaking different languages and nicotine cessation programs. Rural CCBHCs were more likely to have programs for minors, veterans, and emergency psychiatric services.
• Comparing the number of services offered to other mental health clinics, CCBHCs offered more services on average.
• The growth in CCBHCs shows promise for increasing the availability of integrated behavioral and pharmacological treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder in rural communities.

Rural and Underserved Health Research Center

Aaron Smith, Jeffery Talbert

Health services, Healthcare access, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Mental and behavioral health, Substance use and treatment