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​Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) is a five-year, $1.85 billion initiative to build up the capacity and infrastructure of on-the-ground partners, such as community-based organizations (CBOs), hospitals, county agencies, tribes, and others, to successfully participate in the Medi-Cal delivery system as California widely​ implements Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports and Justice Involved services under CalAIM. Drawing upon the success and lessons learned from the Whole Person Care and Health Homes Pilots, PATH funding will address the gaps in local organizational capacity and infrastructure that exist statewide, enabling these local partners to scale up the services they provide to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. With resources funded by PATH—such as additional staff, billing systems, and data exchange capabilities—community partners will successfully contract with managed care organizations, bringing their wealth of expertise in community needs to the Medi-Cal delivery system. As PATH funds serve to strengthen capacity statewide, particularly among providers and CBOs that have historically been under-resourced, the initiative will help California advance health equity, address social drivers of health, and move towards an equitable, coordinated, and accessible Medi-Cal system.

Authorized under California's Section 1115 waiver, PATH refers to the following aligned programs and initiatives: 

  • Support for Implementation of Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports. PATH will support the expansion of the capacity and infrastructure needed to implement Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports, and increase access to services statewide. This involves four integrated initiatives:
    • Whole Person Care Services and Transition to Managed Care Mitigation Initiative: PATH funds services provided by former Whole Person Care Pilot Lead Entities until the services transition to managed care coverage under CalAIM. This funding will end by January 1, 2024.
    • Technical Assistance Initiative: PATH provides a virtual “marketplace" that offers hands-on technical support and off-the-shelf resources from vendors to establish the infrastructure needed to implement Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports.
    • Collaborative Planning and Implementation Initiative: PATH funds regional collaborative planning and implementation efforts among managed care plans, providers, CBOs, county agencies, hospitals, tribes, and others to promote readiness for Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports.
    • Capacity and Infrastructure Transition, Expansion, and Development (CITED) Initiative: PATH funds provide direct funding to support the delivery of Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports services. Entities, such as providers, CBOs, county agencies, hospitals, tribes, and others that are contracted or plan to contract with a managed care plan can apply to receive funding for specific capacity needs to support the transition, expansion, and development of these specific services.
  • Justice-Involved Capacity Building Program. Starting in 2023, PATH provides funding to support the implementation of statewide CalAIM justice-involved initiatives. This includes support for the implementation of pre-release Medi-Cal enrollment and suspension processes, as well as the delivery of Medi-Cal services in the 90 days prior to release. This includes:
    • Collaborative planning: PATH funding supports correctional agencies, county social services departments, county behavioral health agencies, managed care plans, and others so they can jointly design, modify, and launch new processes aimed at increasing enrollment in Medi-Cal and continuous access to care for justice-involved youths and adults.
    • Capacity and Infrastructure: PATH funding supports correctional agencies, institutions, and other justice-involved stakeholders as they implement pre-release Medi-Cal enrollment and suspension processes and the delivery of Medi-Cal services i​n the 90 days prior to release.

Important Updates​​​​

  • ​​​The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is pleased to share the updated Community Supports Policy Guide, released on April 30, 2025. To accommodate new policies related to Transitional Rent and other Community Supports for Members experiencing or at risk of homelessness, DHCS has reorganized the guide into two separate volumes:  
    • ​Volume 1 contains the service definitions for eight of the Community Supports that address Members’ health-related social needs, including four Community Supports previously updated by DHCS in February 2025: Medically Tailored Meals/Medically Supportive Food, Asthma Remediation, Assisted Living Facility Transitions and Community or Home Transition Services.  
    • Volume 2 contains the service definitions for the remaining seven Community Supports, including Transitional Rent, that pertain to housing or have a room and board component and is specifically designed to support Members experiencing or at risk of homelessness.  

To support implementation of these updates, DHCS is hosting two informational webinars: 

    • ​​​Volume 1 Webinar: Friday, May 16, 2025 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM PT 

    • ​​​​Volume 2 (Housing-specific) Webinar: Wednesday, May 14, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 01:30 PM PT 

We encourage you to review both volumes of the guide and join us at the upcoming webinars. DHCS also encourages the public to visit the Medi-Cal ECM and Community Supports webpage for regular updates and the new DHCS Housing for Health webpage for housing-related updates from various DHCS initiatives both within and outside Medi-Cal. 

  • ​On May 16, 2025, from 10 to 11 a.m. PDT, DHCS will host a public webinar, "Connecting Services for the Enhanced Care Management (ECM) Justice-Involved (JI) Population of Focus Throughout the Reentry and Post-Release Process" (advanced registration required).
    • The webinar is part of a biannual series of Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Collaborative Planning and Implementation (CPI) webinars designed to highlight best practices for implementing ECM and Community Supports, increasing providers' successful participation in CalAIM, and improving collaboration with managed care plans, state and local government agencies, and others to build and deliver quality support services to Medi-Cal members.
    • The webinar will:  
      • Recognize the benefits of utilizing JI referral and billing toolkits.
      • Identify strategies to increase JI referrals for ECM and Community Supports providers.
      • Discuss a reentry care plan designed to support linkages and handoffs to community-based organizations, justice-involved agencies, and MCPs.
    • Organizations are encouraged to register in advance by visiting the PATH CPI webpage. 

  • On January 6, 2025, DHCS opened​ the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Capacity and Infrastructure Transition, Expansion, and Development (CITED) Round 4 application window, including for the Transitional Rent Community Support. The PATH CITED initiative provides funding to build the capacity and infrastructure of on-the-ground partners, including community-based organizations (CBO), hospitals, county agencies, Tribes, and others, to successfully participate in Medi-Cal. DHCS has decided to extend the Round 4 application deadline to 11:59 p.m. PST on May 2, 2025. This announcement supersedes pervious deadline communications, and updated materials are forthcoming. The application preview and guidance are available on the PATH CITED webpage. All organizations providing the Transitional Rent Community Support must do so in partnership with their County Behavioral Health Department. To demonstrate this partnership, all CITED applicants who plan to request funding to support the Transitional Rent Community Support must also submit a Letter of Support in collaboration with the County Behavioral Health Department. For more information on this requirement, review the information on the CITED webpage, the letter of support guidance, and the letter of support template.​​ Please submit questions to cited@ca-path.com.
    • ​​DHCS will host a series of office hours to provide Round 4 application support to prospective applicants. Please visit the CITED webpage to register in advance. 
    • Please visit the CITED webpage to access CITED Round 4 webinar recordings and slides, located under "Reference Materials."
  • ​In Spring 2025, it is anticipated that Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Technical Assistance (TA) Marketplace vendors will be available to TA Recipients to support the​ Transitional Rent Community Support service. Please review the updates below to successfully submit a TA project supporting Transitional Rent Community Support services. 
    • ​​​​​​​Round 5 will be a targeted procurement for new and existing hands-on service offerings that address TA Marketplace gaps. The Round 5 procurement will seek TA vendor applications for all seven TA domains, but will focus on services for the following provider types: rural providers, Tribes and Indian health care providers, maternal and child-serving providers, and transitional rent providers. 
    • TA Marketplace recipients seeking TA for Transitional Rent from vendors in this procurement will be required to submit a Letter of Support​ in collaboration with the County Behavioral Health Department. 
    • DHCS will not accept submissions for new off-the-shelf projects or changes to existing off-the-shelf projects during the Round 5 procurement period. Instead, the Round 5 application will solicit on-demand resources from existing TA vendors. 
    • Visit the TA Marketplace Vendor webpage to access the guidance documents and to apply. Please submit questions to ta-marketplace@ca-path.com.
  • ​​On December 6, 2024, DHCS hosted a public webinar, "Hospital Engagement in California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM): Supporting Connection to Enhanced Care Management (ECM) Services Among Eligible Medi-Cal Members." 
    • The webinar is part of a biannual series of PA​TH CPI webinars designed to highlight best practices for implementing ECM and Community Supports, increasing providers' successful participation in CalAIM, and improving collaboration with managed care plans, state and local government agencies, and others to build and deliver quality support services to Medi-Cal members.
    • The webinar recording and resources, including past event recordings, are available under the “Best Practices and Resources" section on the PATH CPI webpage. ​
  • ​On August 30, 2024, DHCS awarded $146.6 million to 133 organizations​ providing Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports services to Medi-Cal members. Awards are being made as part of the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Capacity and Infrastructure, Transition, Expansion, and Development (CITED) initiative’s work to help build, maintain, and scale providers’ capacity to participate in the Medi-Cal delivery system and serve the whole person.  
  • ​On July 22, 2024, DHCS awarded $37 million to 49 clinics providing Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports services to Medi-Cal members. Awards are being made as part of the PATH CITED initiative's work to help build, maintain, and scale clinics' capacity to participate in the Medi-Cal delivery system.​​​
Last modified date: 4/30/2025 11:15 AM