About Thriving Mind Foundation
Background
History, Incidence, Funding
Our region has a total population of nearly 3 million people in a complex mix of urban and rural communities. Each county has a full system of care and county-specific annual enhancement plans and regular needs assessments. Thriving Mind funds direct treatment and prevention services to more than 378,823 unique individuals each year and oversees a full continuum of care for adults and children that serves the uninsured and underinsured living in poverty. Thriving Mind uses payer-level care coordination to maximize program effectiveness, demonstrated for example with peer-reviewed published results that show reductions in short- and long-term readmissions, linkage to outpatient services and cost reductions. Our care coordinators use evidence-based practices to facilitate access to personalized services that bridge gaps in the system, assure a continuum of care and help people thrive at their optimal potential.
Florida is ranked #48 in per capita funding for mental health treatment. Serious mental illnesses (SMI) and substance use disorders (SUD) are strongly associated with poverty.
South Florida, comprised of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, with a known population of 2.8 million, has approximately 1,020,538 documented adults at less than 200% of the federal poverty level. This translates to approximately 277, 586 adults with SMI and SUD in South Florida. Of that 277, 586 in need, about 33,505 annually receive treatment services through a safety net system operated by Thriving Mind South Florida. A total of 378,823 receive services including direct prevention services and treatment services.
Evidence-based treatments SMI and SUD have response rates comparable to treatments for blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, but remain underutilized. Underuse of effective treatment is due to multiple factors including limited access to care. For many individuals, treatment is significantly complicated by lack of stable housing.
Our Community Partner
Thriving Mind South Florida is the non-profit (501c3), Managing Entity (ME) funded by the Florida Department of Children and Families for 28 years to serve the Southern Region of Florida. Our administrative approach is lean, efficient, and effective with less than 5 percent overhead, years of high performance, and governance board of expert stakeholders. Thriving Mind is supported by decades of innovation, accountability, contract compliance, fiscal stewardship, and solution-focused leadership.
Thriving Mind oversees a comprehensive system of evidence-based care, with year-over-year stakeholder engagement, and deep community relationships that include schools, courts, and law enforcement. Thriving Mind also successfully competes for additional funding by other state, federal, county, and private agencies, using appropriate cost allocation to maintain audited fiscal compliance. Over the last 28 years, there was a total of $106.6 million in outside funding from 28 unique funding sources.
Mission/Vision
The Thriving Mind mission is to ensure that families and individuals affected by mental illness and substance use disorders in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties can access innovative, effective, and compassionate services that lead to health and recovery. We do this to help people live with hope and lead meaningful lives. Our vision is that everyone in South Florida can have a compassionate understanding of mental illness and direct access to exceptional mental health care.
Our community partner
Thriving Mind South Florida is the non-profit (501c3), Managing Entity (ME) funded by the Florida Department of Children and Families for 28 years to serve the Southern Region of Florida. Our administrative approach is lean, efficient, and effective with less than 5 percent overhead, years of high performance, and governance board of expert stakeholders. Thriving Mind is supported by decades of innovation, accountability, contract compliance, fiscal stewardship, and solution-focused leadership.
Thriving Mind oversees a comprehensive system of evidence-based care, with year-over-year stakeholder engagement, and deep community relationships that include schools, courts, and law enforcement. Thriving Mind also successfully competes for additional funding by other state, federal, county, and private agencies, using appropriate cost allocation to maintain audited fiscal compliance. Over the last 28 years, there was a total of $106.6 million in outside funding from 28 unique funding sources.
Mission/Vision
The Thriving Mind mission is to ensure that families and individuals affected by mental illness and substance use disorders in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties can access innovative, effective, and compassionate services that lead to health and recovery. We do this to help people live with hope and lead meaningful lives. Our vision is that everyone in South Florida can have a compassionate understanding of mental illness and direct access to exceptional mental health care.
System of Care
To accomplish this, we secure and support a network of 46 expert Network Service Providers (NSPs) to help our community. We have a long history of high-performance and collaborative relationship with NSPs. Thriving Mind is efficient and pays NSPs within five days of accepted invoice, working as the payer of last resort to assure cost allocation to appropriate sources, so we can serve the greatest number of individuals. In support of the mission, Thriving Mind has a history of outstanding data security, data compliance, and fiscal compliance. Thriving Mind has continuously improved data systems to increase data security and maintain the ability for interoperable, compliant data exchange. For this application, Thriving Mind has executed a major investment in technology to partner with Carisk Behavioral Health for both our data and finance systems.
Thriving Mind executes its mission as a local team, with local relationships and board representation that includes key community stakeholders, faith-based organizations, the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, law enforcement agencies, juvenile and criminal justice agencies, schools, and county governments. Our local relationships make us passionate about the people we serve. We go beyond the required to ensure that everyone can have access to exceptional behavioral services that empower people to thrive.
Our overall pillars
- Advancing early diagnosis and treatment intervention to save lives
- Supporting recovery through job training, housing, and engagement
- Measuring impact and improving outcomes through quality assurance and innovation
- Reducing the stigma and increasing awareness through community engagement, information campaigns, and workforce training
