BOSTON – State officials have announced the expansion of community-based behavioral health services for children and youth via MassHealth through a network of partnering agencies across the state, including the Justice Resource Institute operating on the Cape and Islands and Bay State Community Services in Plymouth.
It is the first provider expansion in over a decade and will increase high quality options for families with behavioral, emotional, and mental health needs, as well as those seeking specialized cultural and linguistic care.
The agencies were chosen through review led by the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership as part of the Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative.
“Meeting the behavioral health needs of our young people and supporting their families is foundational to our commitment to a healthy society and is crucial to our work,” said Kiame Mahaniah, Secretary of Health and Human Services.
“This expended network offers families of children enrolled in MassHealth the assurance that their child will get the care they need to thrive,” he said.
Nearly half of Massachusetts’ children receive their health care coverage through MassHealth.
“For children who have complex needs associated with serious emotional and mental health conditions, the expanded and enriched network of community support agencies announced today promises to deliver capable, comprehensive, intensive, and timely care,” said Danna Mauch, President of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health.
“The partnership between these skilled providers and MassHealth,” she said, “responds to pleas from families across the Commonwealth for access to expert home and community-based care that enables their children’s healthy development.”
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