Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in West Virginia

The West Virginia public mental health system can help with a wide range of mental health needs, but you should especially consider looking into it if you (or a loved one) are having a mental health crisis, have a severe mental health condition, have Medicaid, or have a limited income.

Everyone in West Virginia can use the state-funded mental health emergency response system. If you or someone you love is in crisis, you can call your local crisis line to get the help you need, quickly.

Even if you’re not in crisis, you can call your local mental health hotline for information about affordable mental health services in your area. When you call, you can find out whether you might qualify for state-funded mental health services, schedule an assessment or intake appointment, or get free information about other affordable local providers.

You can get publicly-funded outpatient mental health care in West Virginia at regional programs called comprehensive behavioral health centers (CBHCs). In general, all you need to be eligible for services at a CBHC is a mental health condition that is affecting your ability to function in your daily life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be severe as long as it is having an impact.

Whether you can get the services you’re looking for at a CBHC depends on how well-funded and staffed your local program is at the time. West Virginia doesn’t have strict statewide eligibility criteria for public mental health services, but it does prioritize admission for certain groups and may restrict admission when resources are low and demand is high.

Eligibility criteria for counseling and other non-intensive mental health services are less strict than eligibility criteria for more intensive services like case management and day treatment. However, counseling services are sometimes limited or cut when state mental health budgets are cut, and sometimes there is a waitlist for therapy or counseling.

When there are limited providers or a long waitlist, CBHCs may prioritize services for people who can’t use insurance to get therapy anywhere else. They are more likely to refer you somewhere else if you have insurance with adequate mental health coverage and there are other providers in the area who accept your insurance. They are also more likely to refer you elsewhere if your symptoms are mild.

You don’t have to have a serious mental illness (SMI) to be admitted for services at a CBHC, but you’re more likely to be admitted if you do. Serious mental illness is usually defined as a condition that causes you severe distress, limits your ability to function, makes it hard for you to live independently without support, or puts you at risk of hospitalization.

If you do have a severe condition, CBHCs are an important option to consider. They stand out when it comes to specialty and intensive mental health services like case management, day treatment, and community-based care. Most CBHCs offer these services, and they can be hard to find anywhere else.

Most CBHCs in West Virginia accept both public and private insurance and offer sliding-scale fees to people who don’t have insurance. Many CBHCs offer financial aid if your income is 300 percent of the federal poverty level or less.

If you can afford the sliding-scale fee at the CBHC where you’d like to receive counseling, you may be able to receive counseling there even if you don’t qualify for public funding assistance. What you’ll pay is likely to be less than you’d pay to see a therapist in private practice. However, you should always check first to compare what different options cost.

In some ways, getting mental health care from the public mental health system in West Virginia is the same as getting care anywhere else: you’ll either pay out of pocket or use insurance, and if you have insurance, that’s usually your best option. All CBHCs accept Medicaid, and most accept a range of other insurance plans as well.

You can call your local CBHC to learn more about the services they offer and whether you might be eligible. You can find the numbers for CBHCs and statewide helplines and hotlines in the next two sections of this article.

Even if you’re not eligible for services at a CBHC, it’s probably still worth it to call. The people who work there are knowledgeable about local resources and will often give you free information or even referrals to other affordable providers nearby, including non-profits that provide free or low-cost counseling.

The easiest way to learn more about state mental healthcare in West Virginia is to call the state helpline or your local mental health hotline. The people who answer can help you figure out which services you need and can even help you set up an appointment.

You can find the numbers for the state mental health crisis line and other important hotlines in the information box directly below. You can find the numbers for your local CBHC and local crisis hotlines in the directory in the next section.

Public mental health services are managed on the state level by the Bureau of Behavioral Health. For general information about West Virginia’s mental health system, you can contact BBH by calling (304) 558-0627.

However, you’ll probably get the best results by calling a state or local mental health hotline or by calling your local CBHC directly. You can find numbers for local programs and crisis lines in the directory below.

Public outpatient mental health services in West Virginia are provided by comprehensive behavioral health centers. Many CBHCs have been around for decades and specialize in outpatient as well as intensive community-based mental health services.

There are 55 counties in West Virginia and 13 comprehensive behavioral health centers that serve those counties. Each CBHC has a main phone number you can call to get information about mental health services as well as a crisis line you can call to get help in a crisis.

You can find the website and contact numbers for your CBHC in the directory below.

If you need information after hours or aren’t sure whether you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, it’s okay to call a crisis line for help. The staff who answer are trained to quickly figure out what you need and can tell you what steps you need to take to connect with the right services.

Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are another great way to get affordable publicly-funded mental health services in West Virginia.

These federally-funded programs provide cutting-edge care in places where good primary healthcare was once hard to find. Most provide integrated care so you can get primary medical and mental health services at the same location. Each FQHC accepts Medicaid and Medicare and offers low sliding-scale fees if you don’t have insurance.

You can search for FQHCs near you by using the online search tool on the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration website.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 48 percent of people in West Virginia who have mental health conditions get treatment for them. Many of them qualify for public mental health services but don’t know about them.

You can make a difference by reaching out and connecting with local mental health resources to get the care you need. If you’re not sure whether you qualify for West Virginia state mental health services, call your local CBHC or crisis line. You may find out you can get mental health services through your local program or that there’s another affordable option nearby.

The most important thing is to get started—the help you need may be only a call or click away.