Burrell awarded $4M federal grant

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded a $4 million grant to Springfield-based Burrell Behavioral Health.

Paid out over two years, the funds are earmarked for Burrell to expand behavioral health services provided in southwest and central Missouri, according to a news release.

Burrell, the second-largest certified community behavioral health center in Missouri, expects the grant funds will allow it to serve 1,600 more people.

“As the state-designated community mental health center for 17 counties in Missouri, we are charged with providing mental health services to our citizens regardless of their ability to pay,” Burrell President and CEO C.J. Davis said in the release. “These funds will be vital in helping us accomplish this mission and connect our most vulnerable citizens to the care they desperately need, especially in light of the mental health crisis that will affect so many of us following COVID-19.”

Burrell's expansion focuses on assisting those with mental illnesses, substance use disorders and youth with emotional disturbances.

Burrell in 2018 received a $4 million grant from SAMHSA. Since then, the organization has served 1,500 additional people and improved its telehealth services into 2020, according to the release.