The Department of Human Services (DHS) has been charged with leading a stakeholder planning effort to transform children’s behavioral health in Arkansas.

Arkansas Children's Behavioral Health Care Commission

The Arkansas Children's Behavioral Health Care Commission, chaired by Judge Joyce Warren, is charged with making short- and long-term recommendations to DHS and the legislature to develop a System of Care for children’s behavior health in Arkansas. The System of Care approach:

• Is family-driven and child-centered;

• Supports and purchases evidence-based practices;

• Provides customized, community-based services when possible;

• Offers the least restrictive care;

• Utilizes a team approach to treatment decisions across local providers, stakeholders, experts to address service needs; and

• Promotes evidence-based standards that guide services and public expenditures.

Representatives of families/youth, community partners, service providers, and state agency leaders were invited to serve on the Arkansas Children's Behavioral Health Care Commission. Every effort was made to ensure balance across stakeholder groups, expertise, interests, and vantage points.

In addition to Planning Commission members, we identified a broad-based group of resource people, organizations, agency staff, and other experts to assist them.  This group will inform Commission discussions and help identify best practices in Arkansas and other states.  We welcome suggestions on additional persons or organizations to serve as resources as specific information needs develop.

Arkansas Act 1593 of 2007

On Wednesday, April 11th, 2007, Governor Mike Beebe signed into law House Bill 2358, now Act 1593 of 2007 to “Ensure Better Utilization & Coordination of the State’s Behavioral Health Care Resources Devoted to Serving Children, Youth, & Their Families”.  In accordance with the requirements of the Act, DHS, under the advisement of the new Children’s Behavioral Health Commission, shall:

(1)   Ensure that children, youth and their families are full partners in all aspects of the system of care;

(2)   Revise Medicaid rules and regulations to increase quality, accountability and appropriateness of Medicaid reimbursed behavioral health care services;

(3)   Define a standardized screening and assessment process designed to provide early identification of conditions that require behavioral health care services; and,

(4)   Develop an outcomes-based data system to support an improved system of tracking, accountability and decision-making.

The following work groups have been formed to support the work of DHHS in achieving these objectives:

·         Family and Youth Support Network (Rhonda Sanders, Chair);

·         Outcomes (Carol A. Lee, Chair);

·         Medicaid Regulations Changes (Elisabeth Burak, Facilitator);

·         Cultural Competence (Jannie Cotton, Chair); and

·         DHS Internal Work Group (Janie Huddleston, Chair). 

Additional work groups will convene during the summer on local structure, work force development and data systems.

Arkansas System of Care Stakeholders Planning Committee and Subcommittees

The System of Care Stakeholders Planning Committee, chaired by DHHS Deputy Director Ray Scott, will make short- and long-term recommendations to DHHS and policy makers to develop a System of Care for children’s behavior health in Arkansas. The System of Care approach:

-          Is family-driven and child-centered;

-          Supports and purchases evidence-based practices;

-          Provides customized, community-based services when possible;

-          Offers the least restrictive care;

-          Utilizes a team approach to treatment decisions across local providers, stakeholders, experts to address service needs; and

-          Promotes evidence-based standards that guide services and public expenditures.

Representatives of families/youth, community partners, service providers, and state agency leaders were invited to serve on the System of Care Stakeholders Planning Committee  (SPC). Every effort was made to ensure balance across stakeholder groups, expertise, interests, and vantage points. 

In addition to Planning Committee members, a broad-based group of resource people, organizations, agency staff, and other experts have been assembled to assist them.  This group will inform Committee discussions and help identify best practices in Arkansas and other states.  We welcome suggestions on additional persons or organizations to serve as resources as specific information needs develop.

Stakeholder Subcommittees

Subcommittees will inform the Arkansas Children's Behavioral Health Care Commission on specific topic areas for additional stakeholder input. The ratios between families/consumers, community partners, service providers, and agency staff will reflect the balance established with the Commission members.  Chairs of each Subcommittee come directly from the Arkansas Children's Behavioral Health Care Commission.  Subcommittees cover three major topic areas:

1)      Family and Youth Engagement (Consevella James, Chair) – This Subcommittee will bring recommendations to the Commission on ways to improve engagement, education, support, and empowerment of families and youth as part of a fully functioning system of care for children’s behavioral health.

2)      Governance and Financing (Rich Huddleston, Chair) – This Subcommittee will be charged with identifying short- and long-term strategies to ensure purchase of a range of individualized services and supports, including evidence-based practices for youth and their families in their communities. It will recommend ways to redirect expenditures toward increased capacity of community-based services and supports and decreased use of bed-based care.  The group might inform the following:

• State application for the upcoming Medicaid demonstration and/or other Medicaid waivers to expand home/community-based opportunities for children’s mental health;

• Redirecting expenditures to expand the capacity of local communities to offer the full range of community-based services necessary for a fully-functioning system of care;

• Opportunities to authorize and provide incentives for local, collaborative, cross-system management of the care of individual children with complex and challenging needs and their families in their communities; and

• Creating or altering funding mechanisms to reinforce collaborative, cross-system accountability at the state and local levels.

3)      Accountability (Scott Williams, Chair) – This Subcommittee will be charged with identifying short- and long-term solutions that will increase accountability for all children’s behavioral health services.  The group might consider strategies such as:

• Local, collaborative, cross-system accountability for the care of individual children in communities.

• Standardized child behavioral health assessments;

• Service definitions for children’s behavioral health;

• Provider performance standards to guide practice in communities; and/or

• Promising monitoring approaches.

Priority for Subcommittee membership will be given to voting Commission members. However, any system stakeholder may indicate interest in serving on a Subcommittee.  The Commission and Subcommittee chairs will determine ultimate Subcommittee composition based on preference, stakeholder balance, and need.

All Commission and Subcommittee meetings related to System of Care development will be open to the public. Anyone may submit items for consideration through the Subcommittee chairs and/or staff.  However, only Commission and Subcommittee members will be able to vote on final decisions or recommendations. 

For more information:
 

Dawn Zekis, DHS Director of Policy and Planning

Dawn.Zekis@arkansas.gov, 501-683-0173