Dr. Mark Edelstein oversees mental health treatment and social services for some of California’s most troubled kids. With his staff at EMQ FamiliesFirst, Edelstein works to keep children with significant mental health issues in their communities – an important task at a time when the rate of mental health-related hospitalizations of California children and youth is rising.
As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is implemented, some California children and families will see changes to their health care plans and new opportunities for coverage. New issue briefs from the Insure the Uninsured Project examine the changes and explore how the State might alter existing programs and services to better serve children.
From her position as director of the Division of Services for Children with Special Health Care Needs in the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Bonnie Strickland takes a national perspective on our fragmented system of care and steps that might be taken to improve it.
The US Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) recently announced plans to transform the way it administers funds that support maternal and child health programs in the states. At least one-third of these funds, administered through Title V Block Grants, are earmarked for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). In California, Title V supports the California Children’s Services (CCS) program.
Ideas on how to improve care coordination in California came flying fast when 18 members of the California Community Care Coordination Collaborative (5Cs) met on Jan. 9, 2014. Learn about the progress of seven local coalitions working throughout the state to improve care coordination locally and at the system level.
Social capital – the benefit that arises from people working together toward a collective good with a sense of trust and shared values – appears to be declining in today’s society. One instance is seen in the system of care for children with special health care needs, where the most commonly cited characteristic is that the system is “fragmented” and “siloed.” Edward L. Schor, MD, senior vice president at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, reflects on how improving social capital in communities may lead to a better functioning care coordination system.
