HMA Releases 5 New Policy Briefs Focusing on Improving Children’s Behavioral Health

Health Management Associates (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of issue briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children. Beyond the statistics lie the stories of countless vulnerable children and families facing immediate and critical needs. Addressing these issues requires comprehensive cross-system reforms, including policies that promote integrated financing, enhance care coordination, facilitate provider collaboration, and bolster upstream prevention efforts.

Investments in children’s behavioral health represent a critical window of opportunity for fostering healthy child development and nurturing the resilience necessary for lifelong well-being. With over 40 percent of U.S. children and youth relying on the Medicaid system for healthcare coverage, it presents a platform to significantly enhance early intervention and prevention services, particularly for vulnerable children. Federal and state policymakers are increasingly active in formulating policies that prioritize investments in initiatives promoting mental and physical health at this pivotal developmental stage.

The importance of socio-emotional wellbeing as core to childhood development is underscored by evidence-based models and approaches, which consistently demonstrate the substantial value and long-term impact of investing in children’s mental and behavioral health. These investments not only benefit children and adolescents but also extend their positive effects to primary caregivers, creating a comprehensive and sustainable framework for fostering well-rounded, mentally resilient, and physically healthy lives.

The insights and recommendations presented in these briefs underscore the urgency of coordinated action to improve the well-being of our nation’s youth and the opportunity for collaborative approaches to improve outcomes:

  1. Bolstering The Youth Behavioral Health System: Innovative State Policies To Address Access & Parity (previously published in 2022)
  2. System Integration Across Child Welfare, Behavioral Health, And Medicaid (previously published in 2022)
  3. State Policy and Practice Recommendations to Advance Improvements in Children’s Behavioral Health (new release in 2023)
  4. Improving Outcomes for Children in Crisis with Evidence-Based Tools (new release in 2023)
  5. The Role of Specialized Managed Care in Addressing the Intersection of Child Welfare Reform and Behavioral Health Transformation (new release in 2023)
  6. Early Childhood Mental Health: the Importance of Caregiver Support in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Clinical Interventions for Children (new release in 2023)
  7. Connecting Schools to the Larger Youth Behavioral Health System: Early Innovations from California (new release in 2023)