Healey-Driscoll Administration Expands Community-Based Behavioral Health Services for Children and Youth

 Healey-Driscoll Administration Expands Community-Based Behavioral Health Services for Children and Youth 

Statewide Network of Community Service Agencies Selected to Provide Critical Services for MassHealth Children 

 

BOSTON — Today, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that 36 community service agencies have been selected across the state to provide home- and community-based services for children who are MassHealth members – nearly half of all children in Massachusetts – with behavioral, emotional and mental health needs. The new network will be the first expansion of the provider network in over a decade.  

 

The new network will offer more options for families, increase access to high-quality behavioral health services, and ensure geographic coverage across the entire state, including for families seeking specialized cultural and linguistic care. 

  

MassHealth provides health care coverage for nearly half of all Massachusetts children. As part of the Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative, the selected agencies will provide intensive care coordination, family engagement services, and new intensive team-based treatment services for families of children and youth with particularly complex needs.  

 

Childhood mental health conditions affect many children and families across the country. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in five children ages three to seventeen have, at some point, been diagnosed with a mental, emotional, or behavioral health condition. 

 

"This expansion will strengthen the behavioral health system of support for hundreds of thousands of children and their families here in Massachusetts,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Through this important work, we are making sure that our young people get the care that they need.” 

“These agencies will help us provide coordinated, innovative services that are essential to the behavioral and mental health of children here in Massachusetts,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “We are thrilled to work with our partners to increase access to these services.” 

“Meeting the behavioral health needs of our young people and supporting their families is foundational to our commitment to a healthy society and is crucial to our work,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah. “This expanded network offers families of children enrolled in MassHealth the assurance that their child will get the care they need to thrive.”   

“MassHealth is dedicated to offering integrated behavioral health services and a comprehensive, community-based system of care for our members,” said Undersecretary for MassHealth Mike Levine. “This expanded network will help us strengthen those efforts to reach more kids who need help.” 

Community service agencies were selected through a rigorous review process led by the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP), with review teams comprised of community members and caregivers with relevant lived experience and representatives from state agencies and managed care entities. MBHP will conduct a rigorous readiness process with the selected agencies prior to contracting. 

 

“We are excited to announce the selection of new community service agencies, key partners in providing every child and family with access to coordinated care,” said Sharon Hanson, Vice President of Client Partnerships and CEO, MBHP. “With innovations like Family-based Intensive Treatment, we aim to transform behavioral health services and create lasting positive change in our communities."  

 

As part of Carelon Behavioral Health, MBHP manages comprehensive, high-quality behavioral health care for over 400,000 MassHealth members statewide, ensuring accessible and culturally sensitive services through strategic collaborations with state agencies, providers, and community stakeholders to promote rehabilitation, recovery, and whole health.