Rhode Island
Early data promising on RI’s evolving behavioral health model | Opinion
Governor’s executive order targets Rhode Island health care costs
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee takes action to lower health care costs and improve affordability through new executive order.
Across Rhode Island, there has been a shared commitment in recent years to strengthening our behavioral health system, expanding access, improving coordination, and ensuring people can get the care they need, when they need it. One of the ways the state has moved that work forward is through the implementation of certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHCs).
Today, eight organizations across Rhode Island are part of this model, each serving different regions and populations. At Thrive Behavioral Health, which serves Kent County, we’ve been operating a CCBHC for nearly a year and a half. With that milestone comes something equally important: the opportunity to reflect on what the data is beginning to show.
While 17 months is only an early snapshot, the results we are seeing are encouraging and offer useful insight into how this model is functioning in practice.
Access to care is one area where the impact is already visible. Since becoming a CCBHC, we’ve seen a 60% increase in client intakes, connecting more individuals and families to services across Kent County. In total, more than 3,700 Rhode Islanders received care through our services last year.
That increase reflects a model designed to meet people where they are, with an emphasis on accessibility and a “no wrong door” approach. Individuals can enter care through multiple pathways and receive support regardless of their circumstances.
Equally important are the outcomes associated with that access.
Over the past year, we’ve seen a 28% increase in clients reporting improved overall mental health, along with a 19% increase in those able to remain in their homes and communities, outcomes that reflect greater stability and continuity of care. These are meaningful indicators, particularly in a field where progress is often measured over time and across many touchpoints.
The data also suggests progress in how care is coordinated across the broader system.
In Kent County, there has been a reduction in emergency department utilization among adults, alongside strong rates of connection to care for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. These trends point to the value of integrating crisis response, outpatient services, and community-based supports in a more coordinated way.
The CCBHC model is designed to support exactly that kind of coordination. It brings together a comprehensive range of services, emphasizes partnerships with other providers and systems, and aligns funding in a way that supports continuity of care.
Each of Rhode Island’s CCBHCs serves a different community, and continued evaluation across all sites will be essential to understanding the full impact of the model. At the same time, early data like this plays an important role. It helps inform decision-making, highlights areas of progress and identifies opportunities to strengthen the system.
Behavioral health care is complex, and meaningful change does not happen overnight. But it does happen through thoughtful implementation, collaboration, and a willingness to learn from what the data is telling us.
More than a year in, the CCBHC model is offering a clearer picture of what coordinated, community-based behavioral health care can look like in Rhode Island.
Sustaining that progress will require continued commitment, including stable, long-term funding that allows providers to maintain and expand access to care. With thoughtful support from policymakers and continued collaboration across the system, Rhode Island has an opportunity to build on this early momentum and ensure these gains are not temporary, but lasting.
Dawn Allen is the president and CEO of Thrive Behavioral Health in Warwick.
The Rhode Island Department of Health issued an overdose spike alert for Johnston and North Providence.
Health officials said over the past week, five Johnston and North Providence residents received medical care for a drug overdose.
According to RIDOH, these municipalities have historically lower overdose rates than the statewide average.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
Residents can visit Prevent Overdose RI connect with community harm reduction organizations and find treatment.
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 12, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 12 drawing
17-32-35-40-47, Mega Ball: 17
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Numbers numbers from May 12 drawing
Midday: 1-5-2-0
Evening: 1-6-0-3
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from May 12 drawing
23-27-29-31-35, Extra: 12
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 12 drawing
19-21-35-38-53, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
RI House speaker answers why RI won’t ‘pause’ millionaires tax push
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi fielded a question on whether lawmakers might pause efforts to pass a millionaires tax.
The fight over Rhode Island’s proposed “millionaires tax” is intensifying as lawmakers prepare their version of the state budget for the year with an unexpected $233 million tax collection windfall.
The business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, one of the groups leading opposition to higher taxes on the wealthy, on May 12 released a new report arguing that states with higher income tax rates see more people leaving for states with lower rates.
“Given the experience of Massachusetts and the positive net migration of Bay State residents to Rhode Island over the last several years, it would be particularly risky to adopt a top income tax rate that could undermine this trend,” said RIPEC CEO Michael DiBiase. “Taking on this risk is even more unwise given the recent news that state revenues will be $233 million greater than expected. There is no need to raise taxes – instead the state should focus on fiscal discipline and growing the economy.”
Massachusetts began collecting a 4% surcharge on income over $1 million in 2023 and Rhode Island leaders hoped rich Bay State residents put off by the hike would move to Rhode Island.
On the other side of the issue, the left-leaning Economic Progress Institute argued that the better-than-expected state revenue collections, while welcome, do not cover all of the money Rhode Island could be potentially losing due to cut in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Economic Progress Institute is pushing for a more aggressive tax increase − a 3% surtax on income over $640,000 − than McKee’s proposal where the higher tax rate would kick in at income over $1 million.
“It remains imperative the General Assembly pass the proposed surtax on the top one percent this year,” the EPI said in a news release. ” The surtax would generate $203 million per year in revenue, which would bring us closer to: bridging the gulf of lost federal funds, preserving critical programs, and closing the many long-standing equity gaps and crises in healthcare, education, housing, childcare, public transit, and so much more.”
Their release comes days after the Service Employees International Union Rhode Island State Council rallied at the State House in support of the “Rhode Island’s Revenue Bill,” the tax on income over $640,000. The May 7 rally could be heard during former House speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s farewell address.
What is in new RIPEC report?
RIPEC’s latest report finds that:
- Between 2020 and 2025, states with a higher top income tax rate saw higher net out-migration than states with a lower tax rate
- During the post-pandemic period of strong revenue collections, more states have lowered income taxes than raised them
- More residents moved to Rhode Island from Massachusetts (4,796) than any other state from 2020 to 2023 by a large margin. (New York was second at 1,924.)
- Taxpayers leaving Massachusetts in 2023 were on the wealthier side in 2023, making more than $200,000 per year, compared to 2022.
What does it not show?
The IRS data RIPEC analyzed only covers tax filers who make $200,000 or more in Adjusted Gross Income, so it does not show how Massachusetts residents making more than $1 million, the group whose taxes went up, reacted to the change.
And it does not include migration patterns and tax changes for 2024 or 2025.
In its release urging an income tax increase, the EPI said it estimates the state will lose more than $400 million in federal revenue starting in the fiscal year that starts July1, 202,7 from provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Lawmakers need to be proactive for the many needs, gaps, and crises we have now as well as what’s to come – including likely more federal cuts and an upcoming fiscal cliff,” the EPI release said. “Our wealthiest Rhode Islanders can afford to do more, especially with an average annual tax break of nearly $59,000 from Washington.”
The millionaires tax in McKee’s budget is estimated to generate $135.3 million in new state revenue in a full year.
The surcharge on the 1% of earners − starting at income of $640,000 per year − is estimated to generate $203 million per year.
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