In July, North Carolina started the process of Medicaid transformation. Oversight and management of some Medicaid behavioral health dollars transitioned from more regionalized, specialized organizations to statewide organizations that focus on both behavioral health and physical health. During this transition, providers have worked tirelessly to ensure that much needed services continue despite logistics surrounding health plans.
During the process of Medicaid transformation, providers have been working to become contracted with the various Prepaid Health Plans (PHPs) across the state. While each PHP covers traditional behavioral health services such as clinical assessments and outpatient therapy, many agencies have developed knowledge and expertise in areas such as human trafficking, opioids, and trauma and resiliency. For these areas, many agencies, stakeholders, and community organizations have worked together to develop specialized programs and services to meet and address the needs of the children they serve. Alexander Youth Network (AYN) is one of those agencies.
In 2012, AYN began offering the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) and became a leader in North Carolina for trauma treatment. Since then, they have continued to expand their efforts in addressing the trauma related needs of children and their families by engaging in initiatives such as Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) which aims to ensure that child welfare involved youth are proactively screened and referred for trauma assessments, namely the Trauma-intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessments (TiCCAs).
During Medicaid transformation, hundreds of provider agencies have worked to become contracted with PHPs so that they can continue to offer specialized services to the communities that need them most. Throughout this time, AYN has remained committed to advocating for these services in their conversations with PHPs. By demonstrating the impact that trauma can have on people’s long-term recovery, outlining the value of proactive services, and diligently building relationships with the new health plans, AYN is seeing great success in continuing to offer needed services.
Large system changes, such a Medicaid transformation, can create many barriers but also many opportunities. We value all the work that our behavioral health agencies are putting forth to ensure vulnerable populations’ needs are met. May we all continue to lead our North Carolina communities down the path of being trauma-informed, trauma-aware, and trauma-responsive!
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