Overview:
DHCS is committed to strengthening family-based services and supports for children and youth living with significant behavioral health needs through BH-CONNECT, including children and youth involved in child welfare.
Through the BH-CONNECT Section 1115 Demonstration opportunity, DHCS will use Activity Funds for children/youth involved in child welfare to promote community inclusion and social/emotional wellbeing.
DHCS will also make other statewide changes that do not require waiver expenditure authority, including the implementation of an initial joint child welfare/specialty mental health visit, alignment of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tool with CDSS, and requirement for all managed care plans to include a Child Welfare Liaison.
Activity Funds Initiative
The Activity Funds Initiative will cover the cost of activities and items that encourage forms of expression beyond words or traditional therapies to support the health and wellbeing of children and youth involved in the child welfare system.
To qualify for Activity Funds, a child or youth must have a behavioral health condition or be at high risk for a behavioral health condition and be currently or formerly involved in the child welfare system
Activity Funds may cover the costs of the following types of activities:
- Physical wellness activities and goods that promote a healthy lifestyle (e.g., sports club fees and equipment)
- Strengths-developing activities (e.g., music and art lessons, therapeutic summer camps)
Initial Joint Child Welfare/Specialty Mental Health Visit
DHCS is partnering with CDSS to require a specialty mental health provider accompany a child welfare worker during a home visit within 30 days following substantiation of an allegation of abuse or neglect by an investigating social worker. The specialty mental health provider would complete the home visit to provide holistic insight into the child's family structure and identify mental health and/or substance use conditions related to the child and/or family.
Through the joint child welfare/specialty mental health visit, a specialty mental health provider and child welfare worker will partner to:
- Identify necessary social supports
- Connect the child and family (both the biological family and the resource family, as appropriate) to any needed clinical or community services
Alignment of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Tool
DHCS will align use of the CANS tool across the child welfare and specialty mental health systems to:
- Ensure county child welfare agencies, juvenile probation agencies, and specialty mental health services plans and providers administer the same CANS tool;
- Ensure that the CANS tool is administered in the same way, whether done by a specialty mental health provider or by a child welfare worker, to streamline care for children and youth served in both systems, and;
- Produce robust outcome measurements that are comparable and can be tracked over time.
Aligned use of the CANS tool will take place across two phases of policy changes:- Initial policy changes specific to administrative alignment will be detailed in a forthcoming joint BHIN/ACL scheduled for release in early 2025.
- A second phase of policy changes will focus on programmatic alignment related to the use of the CANS tool, including automation of CANS and training/certification requirements. These changes will be detailed in a subsequent joint BHIN/ACL.
Child Welfare Liaison
In 2024, DHCS issued APL 24-013, which requires all managed care plans include a Child Welfare Liaison. The Child Welfare Liaison is designed to be the point of contact for child welfare departments and to serve as an advocate on behalf of members involved in child welfare. They are responsible for ensuring the needs of members involved with child welfare and foster care are being met. This includes identifying and resolving issues related to accessing services and providing assistance to staff responsible for member care coordination.
