The national movement toward Certified Community Behavioral health Clinics (CCBHCs) began with a Medicaid Demonstration in 8 states in 2017 and has gained major momentum over the last five years.

There are now more than 500 CCBHCs in the U.S., serving an estimated 3 million people every year. Kennebec Behavioral Health began providing services as a Maine Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic on July 1, 2025. 

The CCBHC model is designed to address longstanding problems in behavioral healthcare by providing a Medicaid reimbursement structure that is based on each provider’s expected cost of delivering services, rather than the traditional system, under which providers are paid for units of service based on pre-set fee schedules. and provides clinics with sustainable financing to improve behavioral health systems. 

This allows clinics to expand access to crisis services, focus on coordinated and integrated care, increase staffing, develop their IT infrastructure, and track and report on quality measures to improve client outcomes.