History of the program
BH-JI started through a partnership between the Massachusetts Medicaid Authority, MassHealth, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of the Trial Court. It is based on other re-entry programs in Massachusetts and across the country.
BH-JI was developed with the Massachusetts Parole Board, the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, and a range of other groups. Advice from the Council of State Governments – drawn from the Massachusetts Justice Reinvestment Working Group – and project support from UMass Chan Medical School’s ForHealth Consulting also helped with the development of BH-JI.
In 2019, MassHealth began a state-funded demonstration to provide behavioral health supports for justice-involved individuals in Middlesex and Worcester counties. In 2021, EOHHS put out a request for responses from organizations that would go on to provide BH-JI supports statewide for justice-involved MassHealth-eligible individuals. MassHealth requested permission to launch similar community supports for members enrolled in MassHealth managed care, in what became the Community Support Program for individuals with Justice Involvement (CSP-JI). CSP-JI services became effective September 1, 2022 with the Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), ACPPs, and the State’s behavioral health vendor, and as of January 1, 2023, these services were effective in the One Care and SCO plans.
As of May 2023, more than 3,700 individuals have enrolled in BH-JI. The program became available throughout Massachusetts on February 1, 2022.
Mission
Both BH-JI and CSP-JI are meant to:
- Offer a way to help justice-involved people with their mental health and substance use needs;
- Improve health, reduce deadly drug overdoses, and support successful health care use for people enrolled in the program; and
- Connect people toward the right health care and community services for them.
Contact BH-JI
For questions about BH-JI, please email: BHJIContractManagement@umassmed.edu.