Alerts

February 3, 2009

Dear Partners,

At the end of 2008, NEACH increased its staffing capacity, allowing us to devote more time and energy to our state-based work.  You will see this materialize in the followings ways: 1) a more robust website with new pages for each New England state that include state-specific information about children's health care issues 2) an increase in our TA support to state partners; and 3) a new series of Alerts that highlight important state-based health policy issues. 

New State Webpages

NEACH recently created new state webpages that provide information about children's health care issues in each of the New England states.  The pages include summaries of recent children's health policy initiatives, news clips about children's health care issues, contact information for each state's federal Congressional delegation, an overview of children's health insurance programs, and more.  We hope that these new pages will be useful in helping you better understand both what your state, and other New England states, are doing to change and improve children's health policy.  To view these new pages, click here and then choose a state from the list on the right-hand side.  We will keep you informed about any new updates to the NEACH website at the bottom of our Alerts.  Scroll to the end of this Alert for an example of the website updates we will provide for you. 

Support to State Partners

NEACH is ramping up our technical assistance (TA) support services to our state-based partners.  As the 2009 legislative sessions begin, we are in the midst of contacting state organizations to discuss their goals for the year and what we can do to help.  Our aim is to stay in regular communication with our partners in order to remain up-to-date about their work and to provide them with information and TA support when needed.  Maia Fedyszyn will be the primary contact with New Hampshire and Rhode Island groups, and Jessica Taubner will be the primary contact with our Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont partners.  Amy Rosenthal will continue to be updated and involved with all six of the states.  If you have any questions about our state-based TA work, please contact Maia (617-275-1871, mfedyszyn@communitycatalyst.org) or Jessica (617-275-2878, jtaubner@communitycatalyst.org.

State Health Policy Alert: Children's Mental Health in Massachusetts

In October we provided you with information on Rhode Island's application for a global Medicaid waiver.  This Alert is the second in this series and concentrates on Massachusetts and its work on an important health care quality issue: children's mental health. 

On August 21, 2008, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law An Act Relative to Children's Mental Health (Chapter 321 of the Acts of 2008), which seeks to improve the quality and access of mental health care for children with mental illness. This new law encourages early identification of mental illness in children, ensures the treatment of children in the least restrictive, most appropriate setting possible, expands private insurance protections for families, and improves communication and collaboration among state agencies.

The creation of this law has its roots in the January 2006 court decision Rosie D. v. Romney. This ruling declared that Massachusetts was not providing a clinically appropriate level of mental health care to children, and was therefore in violation of the federal Medicaid Act.  In reaction to this ruling, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Children's Hospital Boston released a report in November 2006 entitled Children's Mental Health in the Commonwealth: The Time is Now.  The report found that more than 140,000 Massachusetts children age 17 or younger required mental health treatment, yet 100,000 of these children were unable to access necessary care.  The report also set forth numerous recommendations for improving the children's mental health delivery system in the state.

Thirty-five organizations collaborated on this report; soon thereafter the Children's Mental Health Campaign was launched.  The campaign, spearheaded by Health Care For All, eventually grew to include more than125 organizations from across the state.  For nearly two years, the Campaign advocated for the passage of a children's mental health bill; it held countless public hearings, met with state legislators, and assisted in the crafting of the legislation. 

When the final children's mental health bill came to a vote in August 2008, it had overwhelming legislative support: 125 of 180 state legislators voted in its favor.  The bill also passed in a single legislative session (in Massachusetts a session lasts for two years), a rare occurrence in Massachusetts for this type of legislation.

The final law includes the following provisions:

Early Identification

  • Pediatricians will be required, with parental consent, to routinely screen children for behavioral health problems.
  • School personnel will receive consultation and guidance on how to recognize and better understand children's mental health needs.  Schools and early education settings will also receive new tools and supports to better help students with mental health needs.
  • The Department of Early Education and Care will provide behavioral health consultations for very young children in early education and preschool settings.

Appropriate Care Settings

  • New policies will be implemented to quickly move children who are "stuck" in acute care facilities into residential or community-based care settings. 

Insurance Coverage

  • The Division of Insurance will regulate behavioral health managers, which are companies that health insurers may contract with to provide mental health benefits to their members.
  • Private insurance protections for families of children living with mental illness will be expanded.

State Services

  • The Department of Mental Health will be the main authority in designing and overseeing children's mental health services.
  • A Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Council and a Children's Behavioral Health Research Center will be established.
  • Interagency service review teams will be formed to collaborate on cases for children who may require services from multiple state agencies.

The Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee estimated that the changes called for in the Children's Mental Health law would only cost the state about $5.4 million annually.  Some of these changes are already underway, yet concerns have recently mounted about the state's ability to fund them.  During a round of budget cuts in October, the Governor cut $8 million for the Department of Mental Health's budget and $2.25 million of the $76 million set aside for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.  More budget cuts are expected for 2009.

We hope this summary is helpful to you.  For more information about this work, please contact Matt Noyes, Children's Health Coordinator at Health Care for All (617-275-2939, mnoyes@hcfama.org) or Jessica Taubner, Children's Health Care Coordinator at NEACH (617-275-2878, jtaubner@communitycatalyst.org). 

Sincerely,

Amy Rosenthal
Project Director

Updates to NEACH website

Join the Alliance
Donate Online