Our Investments for Children
with Special Health Care Needs

The Foundation invests in programs and projects that have the potential to improve California's system of care for children with special health care needs and their families. Through convenings of consumers, advocates, and other thought leaders, the Foundation has developed a model of an enhanced system that is designed to address current system deficiencies while maintaining the positive components.

The model envisions a high-performing health care system that provides high-quality, family-centered, culturally competent and coordinated care within a medical home, funded by a unified, efficient and comprehensive payment system. The model also calls for an adequate number of highly trained pediatric specialty care providers; focused training for general pediatricians in the management of children with special health care needs; and widely accepted and uniformly utilized quality measures. The Foundation invests in efforts to move the system closer to this enhanced model.

Some Examples of Our Investments

System Reform

State of California 1115 Medi-Cal Waiver Renewal Process
A series of investments to support California's application for and implementation of a Medi-Cal Waiver that would allow testing of pilot models of systems of care and financing for children with special health care needs who qualify for California Children's Services.

Pediatric Education/Care Coordination/Medical Home

California Pediatric Medical Education Learning Collaborative: Training the Pediatricians of the Future to Deliver Care in a Pediatric Medical Home
A project to implement changes in medical education in California and inform the process of resident education redesign nationally. The Learning Collaborative will address the need for pediatricians who are versed in the complexity represented by the special needs patient population, and the demand for trained pediatricians to lead the medical home teams that will be crucial to the future well being of children.

Best Practices in Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs
A project to convene experts to define care coordination for children with special health care needs and develop criteria for segmenting children according to their need for care coordination services.

Data/Research

Children with Special Health Care Needs in California:
A Profile of Key Issues and a Call to Action

A report commissioned by the Foundation documents areas in which California is lagging on providing high-quality services for children with special health care needs and their families. To help address these issues, the Foundation has established the California Collaborative for Children with Special Health Care Needs.

As a companion to this work, the Foundation has funded questions to be asked only in California as a supplement to the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs currently being conducted.

California's Service System for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs
Analysis and Recommendations for a Service System That Works for Children and Families

A commissioned report that provides an overview of the current system of care in California for children with special health care needs and their families, including publicly and privately funded services; analysis of the strengths and gaps within the current service systems; and an assessment of the impact on children and families. The report includes recommendations for system improvement. Read the report>>

Models of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs
Promising Models for Transforming California's System of Care

A commissioned report that identifies promising models implemented outside of California to support the system of care for children with special health care needs. The report includes an assessment of whether each model would work in California. Read the report>>

Advocacy

Family Voices of California
A planning grant for a statewide collaborative of locally based parent-run centers working to ensure quality health care for children and youth with special health care needs.

Youth Council of Family Voices of California
A planning grant for the youth group, which trains youth as self-advocates, with particular focus on transition to adult care services.