CEO, President guided CCBH to unprecedented growth, community impact

Central Clinic Behavioral Health (CCBH) today announces that CEO and President Walter S. Smitson, PhD will retire at the year’s end after 55 years of service to the oldest outpatient mental health clinic west of the Alleghenies.

Central Clinic’s board of directors will form a search committee in June and enlist an executive search firm to conduct a broad search for his successor. Dr. Smitson will continue to lead the organization until the successor is in place.

View our 100th Anniversary Video

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is making headlines for his community service off the field, helping support young people in need of mental health care.

The Joe Burrow Foundation was honored Friday as part of Central Clinic Behavioral Health’s 100th anniversary celebration at the Kenwood Country Club.

View Local 12’s News Segment

Community leader in health services poised for another centennial of growth

Cincinnati, OH – Central Clinic Behavioral Health (CCBH) is celebrating 100 years of award-winning behavioral health services. When it was originally founded, CCBH was the first mental health nonprofit organization in Ohio and one of the only community clinics that served both children and adults.

Letter from Chair of the Board and CEO

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Welcome to the 2021-22 Annual Report… Celebrating 100 Years of Positive Community IMPACT!

For the prior annual report year, we were in the throes of the COVID-19 global pandemic – services pivoted from live to telehealth and our funders truly stepped up in their support of our patients/clients. This year we are pleased to report that the clinical staff delivered services in person at all of our 11 locations. It has truly been a year of impact. As you read the various stories in this report, you will have a sense as to how the patients/clients have been impacted. Not only is there a primary impact, but also a secondary one (families and their communities) as well. Last year, we improved the lives and provided hope to 17,468 adults, children, and their families. We strive to connect the right service to the right person at the right time.

As the holidays approach, I am always reminded of what a generous philanthropic community greater Cincinnati is – one might say it is our bedrock.

Here at Central Clinic Behavioral Health, we see more and more children and their families who come to us for their mental health problems. Our clinical staff are committed to providing the right services in a timely manner. The clinic provides assessments, psychological testing, behavioral health treatment, and consultation. Patients/clients can enter through the Child and Family Treatment Center in Clifton or the CDC Behavioral Health programs in Butler or Clermont counties.

Welcome to the fall 2022 newsletter. So much has impacted the behavioral health field broadly and right here at Central Clinic Behavioral Health.

The COVID 19 pandemic continues to impact our world, and within the behavioral health system it has created an unprecedented need for behavioral health and substance use disorder services. The Ohio Council tells us that marijuana use is at record levels among young adults. In November 2022, the Hamilton County Mental Health Levy will be on the ballot, and it is our responsibility as a community to support it. This levy supports local services for people from all walks of life to make our communities healthier and safer.

Anxiety, depression, suicidality, and drug overdoses all increased during the pandemic and do not show signs of abating. Given the enormous increase in people from all demographics and all backgrounds requesting help, we must be able to increase our capacity to provide mental health counseling to those in need.

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CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Kids are in crisis in these pandemic times, and it’s not getting better. That’s the latest from a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on teens and mental health.

This report is really a cry for help, and perhaps no one knows that better than Marcia Gause. This brave teen is sharing her story with Local 12 in the hopes that others who see it will not give up.

“I thought it would be great. I don’t have to go to school? I’m so happy,” said Marcia about when the pandemic first started.

Like many high school students, when the pandemic shut down Marcia’s classroom, at first, she missed her life but was OK, but that changed over time.

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Central Clinic Behavioral Health’s Child & Family Treatment Center has received a $20,000 grant from The Andrew Jergens Foundation to support Central Clinic’s Increasing Access to Mental Health Services initiative. This grant will provide funding for children and youth whose families are unable to pay for mental health services due to lack of health insurance or insufficient income.

Welcome to our spring 2022 newsletter. As we get ready for the first summer in two years with COVID-19 waning, we want to thank our patients/clients and personnel for being so flexible during this time in our history. Services are now being delivered in-person and via telehealth, which continues to greatly improve access to behavioral health care in the greater Cincinnati area.

Central Clinic Behavioral Health has received its seventh consecutive accreditation from CARF International. This accreditation is for a three-year period, and it applies to all of the Clinic’s services. CARF accreditation is an indication of Central Clinic Behavioral Health’s dedication and commitment to improving the quality of lives the persons served and is the highest possi- ble accreditation level. Additionally, the report applauded Central Clinic’s personnel on being dedicated to its mission and continued that everyone has “worked together as a team to perse- vere throughout the pandemic. The organization has found creative, but necessary, ways to ensure that persons served are connected to the program through telehealth services and has also made in-person services a viable option.”

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