California Invests in Student Behavioral Health Access Improvements

Challenge

Following a national increase in mental health hospitalizations, death by suicide, and overdose deaths in children and youth, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) prioritized improving continuum of care services statewide to ensure that every child across California from transitional kindergarten age to grade 12 receives the behavioral health services they are entitled to—the first time, and every time, they seek care.^1,2

Funding of $389 million was allocated to design and implement the Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program (SBHIP) as part of the state’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative.

Through incentive payments to Medi-Cal managed care plans, DHCS began partnering with local educational and behavioral health entities to increase youth access to intervention services and programs.

Solution

DHCS selected Guidehouse to help implement the SBHIP and coordinate focused strategies in support of the program’s production and operations on statewide and local levels. Our team is supporting DHCS with:

• Assessing program requirements
• Conducting in-depth analyses of program deliverables to better understand individual communities’ student behavioral health needs
• Monitoring program implementation progress
• Demonstrating the program’s impact across California

We are also coordinating with DHCS to successfully increase stakeholder engagement and support, monitor intervention implementation progress, and foster collaborative partnerships among community stakeholders, including:

• More than 3,500 public and charter schools
• 58 county behavioral health departments
• 57 county offices of education
• 22 Medi-Cal managed care plans

Impact

While the program is still being implemented, significant impact is already being realized. A current total of 147 school-based interventions are in the works to improve access to behavioral health services for about 1.4 million students in California. Nearly half (48%) of those interventions represent new behavioral health services not previously provided by counties.

One rural county is using SBHIP funds to procure a van for use as a mobile behavioral health wellness center, which will provide students with preventive and early intervention behavioral health services. Another county is partnering with local universities to staff their wellness centers with student interns enrolled in Master of Social Work programs and offer them course credits for their participation.