April 21, 2025
Top News
California to Expand Behavioral Health Care Capacity in Calaveras County
On April 18, DHCS and Mark Twain Health Care District
celebrated the ribbon cutting of a new Crisis and Wellness Center in Calaveras County. Funded by more than $3.3 million through the
Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) Round 5: Crisis and Behavioral Health Continuum, the center will offer urgent mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, and early intervention to 3,760 residents annually.
To date, DHCS has awarded $1.7 billion in BHCIP competitive grants. Through BHCIP, DHCS awards eligible entities funding to construct, acquire, and expand properties and invest in mobile crisis infrastructure, helping communities meet rising demand and close historic service gaps. These investments are especially critical in rural communities, ensuring people can access timely, life-saving care without having to travel long distances.
Program Updates
Request for Information (RFI): Enrollment Broker – Health Care Options (HCO)
On April 15, DHCS released
RFI 24-061 to seek information from entities that are able to conduct managed care enrollment broker services for the Medi-Cal program. DHCS plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the California HCO Program. The purpose of this RFI is to alert potential bidders to the upcoming release of the HCO Program RFP; inform potential bidders of potential RFP submission and resulting contractual requirements; share documents, including draft RFP sections, with potential bidders; and solicit input from interested parties that will help DHCS finalize the RFP that encourages bidder interest. Feedback is due by May 15, 2025. Please email questions about the RFI to
PCDRFI1@dhcs.ca.gov.
Join Our Team
DHCS is seeking talented and motivated individuals to serve as:
- Chief of the Investigations Division (ID). The Chief of ID leads all investigation activities for DHCS programs, including Medi-Cal. These activities include fraud data analytics, the Medi-Cal Fraud Hotline, complaint intake, investigative audits, and provider and member fraud investigations. Additionally, the Chief of ID is responsible for developing and implementing policies and processes related to fraud, waste, and abuse investigations under the division's purview and ensuring compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations. Applications must be submitted by April 25.
- Chief of the Managed Care Quality and Monitoring Division (MCQMD): The Chief of MCQMD leads and oversees compliance-related activities for Medi-Cal managed care plans. Activities include developing and implementing statewide managed care plan policies, processes, and improvement and change management efforts, and providing technical assistance and conducting risk analysis for audit and compliance programs related to the plans. The Chief of MCQMD also has direct oversight of timely access to care, network adequacy, and California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiatives, such as Community Supports. Applications must be submitted by May 7.
DHCS is also hiring for its accounting, behavioral health, and other teams. For more information, please visit the
CalCareers website.
Upcoming Stakeholder Meetings and Webinars
DHCS posts upcoming public meetings on the
Calendar of Events.
Traditional Health Care Practices Benefit Implementation
On April 22, DHCS will present an overview of
Behavioral Health Information Notice (BHIN) 25-007 – Traditional Health Care Practices Benefit Implementation at the
Tribal and Indian Health Program Representatives meeting (1 to 4 p.m. PDT, advance registration required). The presentation is open to the public and will review policy guidance to support Indian Health Care Providers and Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System counties in implementing this new benefit. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions in advance to
traditionalhealing@dhcs.ca.gov with the subject line “Traditional Health Care Practices Implementation." For questions about traditional health care practices or this BHIN, please email
traditionalhealing@dhcs.ca.gov.
DHCS hosts the quarterly Tribal and Indian Health Program Representatives meeting to facilitate early engagement and discussion with Tribal partners on the development of DHCS initiatives that specifically impact Tribes, Indian health programs, and American Indian Medi-Cal members. For more information, please see the
Indian Health Program webpage.
Chosen Family, Part 2: Contraception and Fertility for Transgender and Gender Diverse People
On May 5, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. PDT, DHCS will host the Chosen Family, Part 2: Contraception and Fertility for Transgender and Gender Diverse People webinar (
advanced registration required). Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people represent a growing subset of patient populations, but many continue to report a lack of provider knowledge when it comes to TGD health. This session will build on TGD health terminology and competency essentials presented in
Part 1 of this webinar series by reviewing evidence-based recommendations for contraception, fertility, and family-building counseling. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, a transcript and recording of the webinar, along with additional resources, will be available on the
Family PACT website at a later date.
Enhanced Care Management Best Practices Webinar
On May 16, from 10 to 11 a.m. PDT, DHCS will host a public webinar, “Connecting Services for the Enhanced Care Management (ECM) Justice-Involved Population of Focus Throughout the Reentry and Post-Release Process" (
advance registration required). Guest speakers include HC2 Strategies and Scott Coffin of Serrano Advisors LLC. The webinar will help participants recognize the benefits of utilizing justice-involved referral and billing toolkits, identify strategies to increase justice-involved referrals for ECM and Community Supports providers, and discuss a reentry care plan designed to support linkages and handoffs to community-based organizations, justice-involved agencies, and managed care plans. Please submit any questions to
collaborative@ca-path.com.
Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC)/Behavioral Health (BH)-SAC Meeting
On May 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT, DHCS will host the hybrid
SAC/BH-SAC meeting (advance registration required for online and in-person participation) at 1700 K Street (first-floor conference room 17.1014), Sacramento. SAC provides DHCS with valuable input and feedback on efforts to provide equitable access to quality health care. BH-SAC provides DHCS with input on behavioral health initiatives and was created as part of the ongoing effort to integrate behavioral health with the greater health care system. The agenda and other meeting materials will be
posted as the meeting date approaches. For more information, please email
SACinquiries@dhcs.ca.gov or
BehavioralHealthSAC@dhcs.ca.gov.
In Case You Missed It
Proposition 35: Protect Access to Health Care Act-SAC
Today, DHCS held the first Protect Access to Health Care Act-SAC meeting. This committee is responsible for advising DHCS on developing and implementing components of the Protect Access to Health Care Act of 2024 (Proposition 35). This meeting marked the beginning of the formal stakeholder consultation process required under Proposition 35. Please see the
Protect Access to Health Care Act-SAC webpage for more information about the meeting. Also, to help clarify the facts about California's Managed Care Organization Tax and outline how Proposition 35 implementation is progressing, DHCS published
frequently asked questions. For general inquiries, please email
DHCSPAHCA@dhcs.ca.gov.
Now Open: Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Capacity and Infrastructure Transition, Expansion, and Development (CITED) Round 4 Application
On January 6, DHCS opened the
PATH CITED Round 4 application window, which includes funding opportunities to support the implementation of the new 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, hospitals, county agencies, Tribes, and others, to successfully participate in Medi-Cal. 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 planning 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.
The deadline to apply for PATH CITED Round 4 funding is 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 2, 2025. The guidance document and application are available on the PATH CITED webpage. Please send any questions to cited@ca-path.com.
