To apply to participate in the Children’s Behavioral Health Policy Academy contact Olivia Randi at orandi@nashp.org to receive the application materials. Applications are due Friday, April 26, 2024.
The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) invites states to apply to participate in the Children’s Behavioral Health Policy Academy. This policy academy will engage up to six teams of state health officials (e.g., public health, Medicaid, behavioral health, child welfare) to strengthen the continuum of care for children and youth who are at risk of or have serious behavioral health needs.
The behavioral health needs of children and youth have increased over the past decade, leading to a national youth behavioral health crisis. Due to gaps in the continuum of care, pediatric mental health-related emergency department visits have risen and hospitals have reported increased “boarding” of children and youth with behavioral health needs. While many states are prioritizing efforts to address these gaps and needs, states face numerous challenges in doing so, including the limited array of services and supports; a lack of comprehensive screening, assessment, and referral systems; workforce shortages; and misalignment across systems.
More details about the policy academy and NASHP’s application process are provided below. Interested state teams are encouraged to participate in an informational webinar that will be held on March 28, 2024, about this opportunity and another policy academy NASHP is offering focused on behavioral health workforce. States considering or interested in applying to the Children’s Behavioral Health Policy Academy should contact Olivia Randi at orandi@nashp.org to receive the application materials. All state applications should be submitted to orandi@nashp.org by Friday, April 26, 2024.
What’s in It for States?
This policy academy will support states to implement policy innovations that improve the continuum of care for children and youth who are either at risk of or have serious behavioral health needs to support a broad array of programs, services, and supports. Participating state teams will:
- Establish clear goals and advance state policy strategies for improving the continuum of care for children and youth who are at risk of or have serious behavioral health needs
- Receive technical assistance provided by NASHP and other national and state experts
- Engage with and learn from peer participants virtually and in person
- Strengthen cross-sector partnerships
Areas of Focus: Strengthening the Continuum of Care
States participating in the policy academy will develop, implement and/or strengthen cross-sector policy strategies to ensure that children and youth who are at risk of or have serious behavioral health needs have appropriate and timely access to a comprehensive array of programs, services, and supports. Potential areas of focus and approaches that states can leverage include:
- Strengthening the array of programs, services, and supports, including but not limited to implementing or enhancing intensive care coordination, tailoring crisis service systems, and improving the quality of care provided in residential treatment settings.
- Improving alignment across systems, including but not limited to improving interagency agreements across systems to streamline access to care, braiding funding streams that support behavioral health services and infrastructure, and expanding engagement with youth and families to inform improvements.
- Enhancing screening, assessment, and referral systems, including but not limited to developing or standardizing guidelines for coordination between hospital, residential, and community-based settings and encouraging or requiring the use of standardized behavioral health screening and assessment tools or processes.
- Supporting the behavioral health workforce and infrastructure, including but not limited to modifying training, certification, and licensure requirements to expand or enhance workforce capacity and expanding the role of community health workers and peer support.
These focus areas are not mutually exclusive: states may address multiple focus areas or identify additional priorities as part of their application and project planning process. States are also encouraged to leverage or build on existing efforts in the state with a relevant focus (e.g., Title V MCH Services Block Grant Program activities, Pediatric Mental Health Care Access grant efforts, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant activities including Children’s Mental Health Initiative grants, Title IV-E Family First Prevention Services Act plan activities).
State Team Requirements
Each state team should meet the following criteria:
- Identification of 3–5 team members with roles or expertise that would be beneficial to your state’s identified goals and priorities, including the following state representatives:
- State Medicaid agency senior staff (required)
- State behavioral health agency staff (required)
- State Title V MCH program staff (required)
- Optional partners include but are not limited to state child welfare agency, state juvenile justice agency, families/people with lived experience, state intellectual/developmental disabilities agency, state education agency, Medicaid managed care plan(s), and provider and hospital groups (e.g., pediatricians, family physicians, children’s hospitals, residential treatment providers)
- Willingness to receive technical assistance and participate in collaborative learning, including:
- Regular check-in calls (at least four during the policy academy)
- Webinars (at least two during the policy academy)
- One in-state visit from NASHP staff during the policy academy for technical assistance support (based on the state team’s interest and availability)
- One in-person meeting during the policy academy (NASHP will support travel for two state team members) (September 2025)
- A closed listserv of participating state teams
- State commitment to strengthening the continuum of care for children and youth who are at risk of or have serious behavioral health needs
- Demonstrated history of or commitment to future cross-agency collaboration
Policy Academy Timeline
- Tuesday, March 19, 2024: Request for applications released
- March 28, 2024: Informational webinar
- April 26, 2024: State applications due to NASHP
- May 2024: Selected state teams notified
- June 2024: Policy academy kick-off
- June 2024–May 2026: Targeted technical assistance, peer-to-peer webinars, in-state visits and calls
- September 2025: In-person meeting
Application Process
- Email Olivia Randi at orandi@nashp.org to let us know that your state is considering or interested in applying to NASHP’s Children’s Behavioral Health Policy Academy. The email should include your state’s team lead and/or key point of contact and their contact information (title, agency, work phone, and email).
- After emailing to express interest, the state team lead/key contact will be provided with a brief application. Each state team should complete this application and submit it to orandi@nashp.org by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 26, 2024.
- NASHP will review states’ applications and select states to participate in the policy academy. All states that applied will receive notification in May 2024.
Please direct any questions about the Children’s Behavioral Health Policy Academy or NASHP’s application process to Olivia Randi at orandi@nashp.org and Heather Smith at hsmith@nashp.org.
