Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative

Editor’s Note: This blog post is an abbreviated version of an article published in the Summer 2022 edition of CASP Today. 

The CASP Legislative Committee, Board, Executive Director, and Legislative Advocate have been closely following the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) and have been actively commenting and engaging with the CYBHI Director, Melissa Stafford Jones, and her staff to be sure that school psychologists are “at the table” during the planning and implementation of this $4.5 billion initiative. 

The Initiative

(Source: Department of Health Care Services) Established as part of the Budget Act of 2021, the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) is a multiyear, multi-department package of investments that seeks to reimagine the systems, regardless of payer, that support behavioral health for all California’s children, youth, and their families. Efforts will focus on promoting social and emotional well-being, preventing behavioral health challenges, and providing equitable, appropriate, timely, and accessible services for emerging and existing behavioral health (mental health and substance use) needs for children and youth ages 0-25. CYBHI is grounded in focusing on equity; centering efforts around children and youth voices, strengths, needs, priorities, and experiences; driving transformative systems change; and using ongoing learning as the basis for change and improvement in outcomes for children and youth.

The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative includes multiple work streams that are led by five departments and offices within the California Health and Human Services Agency – Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), Department of Health Care Access and Information, Department of Managed Health Care, California Department of Public Health, and the Office of the Surgeon General. Under the California Health and Human Services Agency’s leadership, the five departments have been working closely together to align priorities, define outcomes for the initiative, identify opportunities for cross-departmental collaboration, as well initiative interdependencies; and, obtain stakeholder input.

Timeline​

​The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative follows a 5-year timeline, with the three distinct phases that were defined based on how types of activities and priorities are expected to evolve over time. 

• Phase 1: major focus areas include defining specific goals that are linked to the overall CYBHI aspiration, standing up performance infrastructure, convening stakeholders, and preparing for detailed planning and future-state ecosystem design.
• Phase 2: develop detailed plans and design the future state
• Phase 3: deliver and accelerate impact launching a full-scale effort to drive, accelerate, and sustain impact.

FY 21/22

• School BH Incentive Program
• BH Continuum Infrastructure Program
• CalHOPE Student Services ​

FY 22/23

• Scaling Evidence-based Practices Grants
• School-linked Partnerships & Capacity Grants
• Implementation of Dyadic Services Benefit

FY 23/24

• ​BH Virtual Services and E-consult Platform
• Statewide Fee Schedule & BH Provider Network
• Pediatric and Primary Care Training​

Final Thought

CASP’s legislative action is possible only because of our members. Your membership makes the daily work our team does on this initiative possible – thank you! Your membership helps to protect our profession. If you are reading this and are NOT a member of CASP, JOIN TODAY! To join, go to https://casponline.org  and click the link “JOIN NOW.” In the fall, you can ask your district to sign you up as a member using payroll deduction. This allows you to make 10 small payments rather than one annual payment. Your membership  supports the crucial work done in Sacramento and beyond! Thank you for your commitment to making school psychology an even better profession in the years to come.