Mental Health Association of East Tennessee

Treatment Access Bank

The Treatment Access Bank will remove insurmountable behavioral health access to care barriers for troubled persons by matching these individuals with practitioners who have open schedule capacity for short-term care. Many persons delay mental health care due to perceived insurmountable barriers like long wait lists, inadequate insurance networks where some listed providers are not taking new patients, or unaffordable co-pays. When people reach out for help to start care, that is when they need help most and a system or service that is responsive to their urgent needs – not months away. Long delays in access exacerbate one’s problems or issues and create a sense of hopelessness and despair.

The Treatment Access Bank will provide persons struggling with behavioral health access and prompt access to care regardless of barriers or the client’s inability to pay. The MHA will recruit private practicing therapists for the pilot project and manage the client access process. The MHA will compensate the providers for up to ten sessions for each client referred. The Treatment Access Bank will be a pilot project where components of a similar project in Cincinnati will be further evaluated for replication in the local nine-county Trinity service area. It will serve up to 16 persons during the pilot study project period to determine the feasibility of opening a full-scale program.