New Community Behavioral Health Center To Serve Arlington Residents

ARLINGTON, MA — Advocates, a nonprofit human services provider, announced Tuesday that it has been designated by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to operate a Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) that will serve Arlington residents.

The new CBHC is part of a state initiative designed to provide accessible and equitable mental health care, including to people in crisis who otherwise would seek care in a hospital emergency department.

The facility, which will have service sites in Waltham and Framingham, will open in January 2023 and serve 31 communities in Eastern and Central Massachusetts. It will operate among a statewide network of 25 centers that will help meet the growing demand for behavioral health care caused, in part, by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Advocates is excited to be part of this new model and standard of care that will make it easier for anyone – from those with a routine behavioral health concern to those experiencing a crisis – to gain access to high-quality, community-based care," Diane Gould, President and CEO of Advocates, said in a statement. "We are grateful for the work of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to bring new solutions to the table at a time when so many community members are struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the collaborative way in which they have approached this challenge.”

The Advocates CBHC will provide same-day evaluation and access to treatment and maintain evening and weekend hours to maximize accessibility.

Advocates will partner with two other human services agencies, Spectrum Health Systems and Wayside Youth & Family Support Network, in operating the CBHC. Other services will include behavioral health urgent care, clinical and peer support services, crisis intervention, and crisis stabilization beds.

The new Advocates CBHC will serve individuals and families in Acton, Ashland, Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Boxborough, Burlington, Carlisle, Concord, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Marlborough, Natick, Northborough, Sherborn, Southborough, Stow, Sudbury, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Westborough, Wilmington, Winchester, and Woburn.