Performance Specifications
Performance Specifications lay out the requirements to which all MassHealth Providers contracted for a service or level or care are expected to comply.
Additional Resources
Medical Necessity Criteria
MassHealth providers who have contracted for a service use medical necessity criteria established by MassHealth to evaluate whether a member has a medical need for a service.
Additional Resources
Practice Guidelines
Practice Guidelines support the alignment of MassHealth home- and community-based services with the values that are important to families, support positive outcomes, and reflect the best intentions and expectations of CBHI. The Guidelines reference professional standards, recommended practices, required service components, and quality measures consistent with Wraparound principles.
The following Practice Guidelines are available.
Additional Resources
CBHI-State Agency Protocols
CBHI collaborated with Executive Office of Health and Human Services agencies to develop referral protocols for accessing MassHealth's behavioral health services for state agency staff. The following protocols are available.
Other Helpful Resources
System of Care Philosophy
A "system of care" is an organizational philosophy that involves collaboration across agencies, families, and youth to improve access and to expand the array of coordinated community-based, culturally and linguistically competent services and supports for children and youth with a serious emotional disturbance and their families.
National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
This organization works to promote understanding about the components and benefits of care coordination using the Wraparound practice model, and to provide the field with resources and guidance that facilitate high quality and consistent Wraparound implementation.
Caring Together is the result of Department of Mental Health (DMH) and Department of Children and Families (DCF) developing joint service standards, program specifications and management structures to create a more rational, effective, and administratively efficient system of residential care for youth. This website is for Caring Together providers.
The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP)
MCPAP is a system of regional children's mental health consultation teams designed to help primary care providers (PCPs) meet the needs of children with psychiatric problems.
Department of Public Health Postpartum Depression Web Page
This website provides basic information on postpartum depression and resources for mothers and caregivers as well as regulations and reporting requirements for providers.
This program promotes maternal and child health by building the capacity of providers serving pregnant and postpartum women and their children up to one year after delivery to prevent, identify, and manage depression.
Trauma Toolkit for Primary Care
This six-part series is designed with the primary care practice in mind – those who may or may not be familiar with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the process of asking families about exposure to ACEs or other traumatic events. This project was funded through a grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Early Childhood Mental Health Primary Care Toolkit
This toolkit was developed by the Early Childhood Mental Health Partnership, a joint effort of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Health, and the Boston Public Health Commission. A small change at the pediatrician's office can make a large difference for children. Integrating early childhood mental health staff, services, and systems into pediatric practices, also known as medical homes, transforms primary care visits into holistic visits that attend to the physical and mental health of a young child and provide a source of support for the whole family.
ADOLESCENT SBIRT Toolkit for Providers
This is a step-by-step health care providers’ guide to prevent and address substance use disorder among youth. It was developed through a partnership of the Massachusetts Departments of Public Health (DPH) and Mental Health (DMH), and the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP).
The Children’s Behavioral Health Knowledge Center
This center is located in the Department of Mental Health in the Division of Child and Adolescent Health. Its mission is to ensure the following
- The workforce of clinicians and direct care staff providing children’s behavioral health services are highly skilled and well trained
- The services provided to children are cost-effective and evidence-based
- The Commonwealth continues to develop and evaluate new models of service delivery.
The Children’s Mental Health Network
This network provides weekly news and unbiased analysis of key issues focused on children, youth, and families’ mental health and well-being. The Network reaches a widely diverse audience. Readers and contributors to the Network come from all walks of life – parents, youth, community leaders, policy-makers, state and federal officials, and increasingly, similar groups from countries across the globe.