The Michigan Mental Health Integration Partnership (MIP), in collaboration with the University of Michigan and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), aims to address unmet mental health needs by implementing and evaluating innovative programs to improve the lives of Michigan residents.
One in four adults will suffer from a mental illness in any given year. Mental or behavioral health issues can be debilitating independently, but unfortunately, over half of people living with mental illnesses also have additional general medical conditions. Managing multiple health issues can be complicated and costly, requiring multifaceted care management. Even with a high demand for care, people often face obstacles when attempting to access care. There is a deep need to improve care access in a financially strategic way.
The MIP aims to address this unmet need by implementing and evaluating innovative programs to improve the lives of Michigan residents by supporting the scale-up and spread of best practices that enhance access to care for consumers with behavioral health care needs. Through public-private partnerships with provider organizations and community foundations, MIP involves U-M clinical experts working with community partners to implement state-of-the-art care models to enhance the quality of care and well-being of children and adults from lower-income communities in Michigan. MIP continually works to inform the MDHHS regarding integrated care best practices and aims to improve overall health in Michigan and beyond.
Since 2005, MIP has supported projects through a variety of U-M departments via 1:1 matched funding primarily from foundations, non-profits, or another non-federal funding sources along with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Fiscal Year 2022 included 17 sponsored projects, totaling over $7 million dollars in funding. Through these projects, faculty members from the Department of Psychiatry, Social Work, Pediatrics, and Public Health applied their expertise and improved the lives of Michigan residents. Projects ranged from single-site demonstrations of wellness initiatives to larger, cross-agency partnerships that promote collaborative care throughout Michigan.
Examples of initiatives currently receiving matched funds include:
- Implementation and evaluation of a statewide school-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) coach training program with mental health professionals;
- Implementation of integrated mental health services in primary care and other settings;
- Evaluation of the delivery and sustainability of a brief trauma-focused treatment (PE-PC) in Federally Qualified Health Centers across Michigan;
- Development and evaluation of a perinatal program for high-risk women to promote positive maternal-fetal/infant outcomes;
- Assessment of the gaps in provider/staff knowledge and capacity in meeting the behavioral health needs of adolescents in Michigan.
MIP continues to help U-M investigators implement their projects by facilitating the application process for matched funding through MDHHS and by providing administrative assistance through the fiscal year. Among other tasks, the MIP team provides consultation on the initial project application and budget, communicates state priorities to increase the likelihood of being awarded funding, and assists with state IRB requirements. Applications are accepted four times per year. FY25 letters of intent are due to MIP Leadership the first week of November 2024. Please contact the MIP team at [email protected] if you have ideas for a potential project.
Call for Michigan Mental Health Integration Partnership FY26 Letters of Intent (MIP) Submissions
Are you interested in receiving matched funding?
- Do you have a project that focuses on evaluation, integration, or implementation of physical and mental health services across traditionally underserved settings?
- Does your project address or inform needs of Michigan’s Medicaid consumers beyond a single setting/practice?
- Can your project objectives be accomplished within one year?
- Does the project focus on service delivery or enhancement of services for Michigan residents with behavioral health care needs (e.g., mental health or substance use-related disorders)? NOTE: services that are billable or those that involve direct patient contact may NOT be paid for through Medicaid Match funding.
- Does the project involve implementation and/or evaluation activities of programs, interventions, or services, and NOT studies involving experimental treatments or devices (e.g., without FDA approval)?
- Does the source of matched funding come from a non-federal grant or fund (e.g., department, foundation, gift money, other)?
- Are the majority of consumers involved in the project enrolled in Medicaid or eligible for Medicaid coverage?
If you answered yes to these questions, then you may be eligible for matched funding through MIP. Please contact the MIP Leadership team at [email protected] for more information about the program, project eligibility, and the submission process.
Director: Frederic C. Blow, Ph.D.
Implementation Specialist: Angela Tiberia, M.P.H.