Assessing Behavioral Health System Capacity

With support from the National Institute for Health Care Reform, CHIR researchers are conducting qualitative research to examine the effectiveness of various efforts to improve MHSUD treatment access. This research is published in a series of five reports, each of which focus on a unique domain of MHSUD access. As of June 2026, CHIR researchers have published five reports. The first focuses on mitigating behavioral health workforce shortages, the second explores ways to expand behavioral health system capacity, the third covers innovative solutions to expand access to care, the fourth examines financial barriers to behavioral health services, and the fifth investigates cultural barriers to access (available through the menu on the left hand side).

In October 2024, CHIR researchers published the first of these reports on mitigating BH workforce shortages (available through the menu on the left hand side). This second report in this project explores issues related to building and expanding the capacity of the facilities and programs that provide MHSUD services.

Also as part of this project, in August 2024 and December 2024, fellow grantees and collaborators at the Urban Institute published reports related to MHSUD facilities. The first report describes the types of MHSUD facilities available in the country and the services offered, and the second describes the differences in services offered by for-profit and nonprofit behavioral health facilities (both reports available below).

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