Behavioral Health Beyond the Clinic
Understanding the Factors That Influence Outcomes
Key Takeaways
- Behavioral health disparities persist across racial and ethnic populations, driven by barriers that extend beyond clinical care.
- Social determinants of health — including housing, transportation, food security, and community support — significantly influence access to treatment and outcomes.
- Medicaid agencies can reduce disparities through integrated care models, health-related social needs initiatives, culturally responsive services, and equity-focused program design.
Each July, Minority Mental Health Month serves as a critical reminder that access to behavioral health care is not experienced equally across all communities. Established in honor of author and mental health advocate Bebe Moore Campbell, this month calls attention to a sobering reality.
The data makes the gap undeniable: According to SAMHSA’s 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Black/African American adults were 36 percent less likely than U.S. adults overall to have received mental health treatment in the past year.1 These gaps are not accidental, but rooted in historic inequity, systemic underinvestment, cultural and linguistic barriers, and a health care system that was not designed with minority communities at the center.2
Treatment Utilization Varies Across Racial and Ethnic Populations
Minority Mental Health Awareness Month highlights not only the prevalence of mental health conditions, but the stark differences in who receives care, and who does not. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), treatment rates vary considerably across racial and ethnic groups, and the data demonstrates that many minority populations are less likely to receive mental health services despite similar levels of need.3
Treatment utilization varies across racial and ethnic populations, highlighting ongoing opportunities to improve access to behavioral health services.
(Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health by the Numbers, 2025.)
These gaps reflect more than differences in individual preferences or awareness. Behavioral health challenges are increasingly shaped by factors that extend beyond the health care system itself, including housing, stability, transportation, food security, and access to community support.4
To improve outcomes, behavioral health programs must address the broader conditions that influence an individual’s ability to seek, receive, and sustain care.
Looking Beyond Clinical Care
Behavioral health does not exist in isolation. Social determinants of health play a critical role in shaping mental health outcomes and treatment engagement.
Housing instability, transportation challenges, food insecurity, and limited access to community resources all affect a person’s ability to seek, receive, and sustain treatment. These social determinants of health play a significant role in shaping behavioral health outcomes and overall well-being.4
(Source: HHS Office of Inspector General, June 2025)
These capacity limitations compound the barriers already facing minority communities. When providers are unavailable, when wait times stretch to a month or more, and when Medicaid-accepting providers are scarce, individuals with the fewest resources and the greatest needs are the most likely to fall through the cracks.5 For communities of color, who are disproportionately enrolled in Medicaid and who already face structural barriers to care.
Building Stronger Behavioral Health Systems
As the nation’s largest payer of behavioral health services, Medicaid has both the reach and the responsibility to drive systemic change and therefore plays a central role in advancing health equity and improving access to care for underserved populations.
Through integrated care models, care coordination, and health-related social needs (HRSN) initiatives, many states are working to build more connected, person-centered behavioral health systems. These approaches recognize that clinical care and social support are not separate domains, they are interdependent. Addressing housing instability, food insecurity, and transportation barriers alongside clinical treatment leads to better outcomes, greater engagement, and more equitable distribution of care.
Key strategies states are leveraging to address behavioral health disparities include:
- Integrated care models that co-locate behavioral health and primary care services, reducing stigma and improving access for communities with historical distrust of the health care system.
- HRSN screening and referral programs to connect individuals to housing, nutrition, and transportation support alongside clinical care.
- Community health worker programs can leverage trusted community members to navigate social services, reduce barriers to care, and build health literacy within minority communities.
- Culturally and linguistically appropriate services standards that require providers to deliver care in a manner that is responsive to the cultural and linguistic needs of the populations they serve.
- Reimbursement strategies that incentivize equity including value-based arrangements that incorporate health equity metrics and reduce disparities in care quality and access.
Our Commitment
At Myers and Stauffer, we partner with state agencies to support the design and implementation of behavioral health programs that are person-centered and built around the needs of the communities they serve. Our work spans program design, reimbursement strategy, performance measurement, and operational support and always with an eye toward reducing disparities and improving outcomes for the most vulnerable populations.
Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is a call to action. It is a moment to acknowledge the inequities that persist, to address the work of dismantling them, and to recognize that behavioral health systems which do not center equity are not truly serving the communities that need them most. By looking beyond, and centering the lived experiences of minority communities, we can build systems that are not only more effective, but more just.
Health Care Senior Consultant
Health Care Manager
[1] Office of Minority Health. Mental Health and Black/African Americans. Accessed June 18, 2026.
[2] Central Valley Medical Providers. Bridging the Gap: Why Minority Communities Face Greater Health Disparities. Accessed
June 18, 2026.
[3] National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Mental Health by the Numbers (2025). Accessed May 11, 2026.
[4] National Library of Medicine. World Psychiatry. The social determinants of mental health and disorder: evidence, prevention and recommendations. Accessed June 17, 2026.
[5] Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. Availability of Surveyed Behavioral
Health Providers to Treat New Patients Enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid (June 2025). Accessed June 15, 2026.
