Corporate History

In 2001, the Florida Legislature implemented a Managing Entity Pilot Project that was expanded across the state by 2013. Managing Entities are community-based agencies contracted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to administer and provide oversight of behavioral health services. Managing entities do not provide direct services; rather, they allow DCF’s funding to be tailored to the specific behavioral health needs in the various regions of the State for consumers who have no other means to access treatment.

Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network (SEFBHN) began operations in October, 2012, as the Managing Entity for Behavioral Health Services in Palm Beach (Circuit 15), and Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee (Circuit 19) counties under a contract with DCF. SEFBHN ensures that quality services and best practices are provided to consumers and families eligible to receive DCF Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMH) funded services throughout the network.

SEFBHN currently has more than 60 providers within its network. Our providers are primarily private, non-profit service agencies, with a small percentage of private, for-profit agencies. SEFBHN providers employ principles of recovery including: choice, hope, trust, personal satisfaction, life-sustaining roles, interdependence, and community involvement. Services must also be culturally and linguistically competent, and are provided regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, or sexual orientation. SEFBHN receives more than 99% of its funding from DCF, which in turn primarily comes from federally-funded Community Mental Health (CMH), and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grants. The remainder of revenue comes from county government and, at times, from smaller grants SEFBHN has successfully applied for and received.

SEFBHN is a non-profit agency headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and governed by a Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of representatives from community stakeholder agencies and provider agencies. SEFBHN focuses its efforts on ensuring adherence with the requirements of the DCF contract, Federal and Florida Statutes, Administrative Code and Federal Block Grants, while simultaneously engaging its behavioral health providers to be therapeutically innovative and effective. SEFBHN directly employs more than 40 staff to provide:

• Network/Contract management;
• Quality Assurance and Improvement through data surveillance and on-site contract validation activities;
• Promoting Collaborative Service Relationships with Network Providers through Coordination of Care Activities;
• Supporting the use of Peers in our Provider Network
• Fiscal and Budget Oversight
• Information Management
• Human Resources functions to include hiring staff and onboarding
• Coordination of Training Activities for Network Providers
• Incident Reporting Guidance and Trend Analysis
• Consumer Satisfaction Surveys Guidance and Trend Analysis

A contract with Carisk Behavioral Health provides Data Management and Invoicing Services.

Our business hours are Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 5:00 pm.

Leadership is always available to both providers and funders in the event of an emergency.