Children's Behavioral Health Initiative May 2012 Update Sign up for the New CBHI Listserv! CBHI is changing how we send out our Update. We moved our distribution lists to a new listserv. If you were on our previous list, we have automatically added you to the new listserv. If you got this message through a forwarded e-mail and you want to sign up for the listserv, visit our website at www.mass.gov/masshealth/cbhi. On the right side of the page, click on “Stay Up to Date,” which can be found under “Related Links.” To remove your e-mail address from this subscription list, send a blank e-mail to leave-masshealth-cbhi@listserv.state.ma.us. You don’t have to put any text in the e-mail or subject line. If you ask us to remove your e-mail address from this list, you won’t receive any more e-mail notifications. Access to Intensive Care Coordination Continues to Improve Community Service Agencies (CSA), providers of Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) services, have been making great strides in helping families to more quickly get services. The most-recent CSA data from February shows that 74% of families got ICC within three days of a request; 90% within 10 days; and 98% within 30 days. There’s another way to see the progress that CSAs have made in improving access to ICC. The median number of days that families wait for their first appointments from the date of their initial requests has dropped steadily. The improvement shown over seven months: July 2011— six days November 2011—four days February 2012—one day. Having Trouble Getting Your Child into Any of the CBHI Services? Your Health Plan Can Help! Are you having trouble finding a service in your area? Or a service with openings for new children and youths? Just call the customer service number of your child’s MassHealth health plan. These numbers are listed below. They are also usually on the back of your child’s insurance card. Customer-service staff helps people find the right service every day! Boston Medical Center (BMC) HealthNet Plan 1-866-444-5155 TTY: 781-994-7660 or 1-866-727-9441 Fallon Community Health Plan 1-800-868-5200 TTY: 1-877-608-7677 Health New England 413-788-0123 or 1-800-786-9999 TTY: 1-800-439-2370 Neighborhood Health Plan 1-800-462-5449 TTY: 1-800-655-1761 Network Health 1-888-257-1985 TTY: 1-888-391-5535 Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership 1-800-495-0086 TTY: 617-790-4130 or 1-877-509-6981 Not sure which health plan your child has? Call MassHealth Customer Service to find out: 1-800-841-2900; TTY: 1-800-497-4648. Children’s Mental Health Week (May 6-12) Celebrated All Month! Children’s Mental Health Week isn’t limited to just one week. Throughout the month, there will be events around the state, ranging from entertainment and relaxation to education and support. To see what is happening in your area, check out the helpful calendar of events prepared by the Parent/Professional Advocacy League (PPAL). For more information, visit www.ppal.net. CANS Newsletter Now Available The latest edition of the CANS Newsletter—the April 2012 issue—is available for download from the CBHI website. (The header will say, “CANS Newsletter Archives.”) The feature article presents two opinions about the new Cultural Considerations part of the CANS assessment. You’ll read what both an in-home therapy provider and a parent think of it. (The assessment went live in November 2011.) The April issue also offers help on how to enter correct information for living situation, Intensive Care Coordination, and level of care. CBHI Brochure Available in Haitian Creole MassHealth is reprinting the regional versions of the CBHI brochure (“Worried about the way your child is acting or feeling?”) in English, Spanish, Portuguese…and now Haitian Creole. You can order as many full-color copies as you like from MassHealth Customer Service. Order by phone (1-800-841-2900; TTY: 1-800-497-4648) or by filling out the online form on the CBHI website. Just scroll down the web page to find the form. Tell Us Your Story Does a child in your family receive one or more of the new MassHealth behavioral health services? These services include Intensive Care Coordination (ICC), In-Home Therapy, Mobile Crisis Intervention, In-Home Behavioral Services, Therapeutic Mentoring, and Family Support and Training (“Family Partners”). If so, we want to hear from you. Sharing your story allows us to tell policymakers what’s working—and what’s not. If you’d like, we won’t use your name. We at MassHealth would like to know who you are, though, in case we have more questions. We hope you will take a moment to tell us about your and your child’s experience with the new MassHealth behavioral health services. Send an e-mail to cbhi@state.ma.us or write to us at CBHI One Ashburton Place, Room 1109 Boston, MA 02108. Free Training through the Federation for Children with Special Needs If your family has a child with disabilities, there is even more help available. The Federation for Children with Special Needs (“the Federation”) offers free information, support, technical assistance, and workshops for you and the professionals who work with your child. Services include the following. personal, practical information about education law, advocacy, workshops, community resources, school programs, disability information, and other areas of concern; a variety of workshops in local communities on educational rights and issues, advocacy, and collaboration; and an extensive advocacy training program for those who want to help parents with special education issues. Contact the Parent Training Institute at the Federation for more information and to learn about upcoming training and workshops. You can call them at 1-800-331-0688 or contact the Federation’s regional office that is closest to you. Boston 617-236-7210 e-mail: kidinfo@fcsn.org Central MA 1-800-331-0688 e-mail: drobison@fcsn.org Western MA 413-323-0681 e-mail: sinclair@fcsn.org Visit the Parent Training Institute’s web page (http://fcsn.org/pti/) for more information. Quote of the Week “The new CANS (Cultural Considerations) domain reflects quite accurately some of the struggles our families with multicultural and linguistic needs face. As well, discrimination and disparity of health care service needs are huge for our population, and until now, there was not a great way to reflect that need. We love the new domain in that it helps us operationalize some very challenging issues our families deal with. For us, it can often be THE reason a child presents for services…For us, and the families we serve, it is wonderful to have a place to formally mark the concerns, and measure progress, without adding additional blame or shame on the family.” ~ICC Provider From the CBHI Nightstand Here are a few items of interest from around the web: Engage Us: A Guide Written by Families for Residential Providers SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), through its Building Bridges Initiative Family Advisory Network, worked with the Youth and Family Partnership to develop this guide. It’s written by families who have a child in residential care. It will give residential providers a variety of hands-on tips and techniques to help them work with families. Addressing the Needs of Multi-System Youth: Strengthening the Connection Between Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice This paper offers a better understanding of the issues faced by youths who are involved in both the child-welfare and juvenile-justice systems. New Resource to Stop Bullying The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education have launched a new website to encourage communities to take action to stop and prevent bullying. You can check it out by going to www.stopbullying.gov. New Guide to Help Colleges Promote Students’ Mental Health Suicide and emotional distress are growing problems for college students. This free guide from the Jed Foundation and the Education Development Center gives advice on how to tackle these issues. Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? E-mail us at CBHI@state.ma.us. We’d like to hear from you. CBHI Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative www.mass.gov/masshealth/cbhi CBHI@state.ma.us