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New Federal Initiatives Help States Expand Support for Children and Families Affected by Substance Use

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In the recent election, Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates offered strategies to address the opioid epidemic and meet the needs of children and families affected by substance use disorder (SUD). Incoming and incumbent executives will have new federal resources – including the new Maternal Opioid Misuse (MOM) and Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) models and the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act – to bolster their state efforts.

The MOM and InCK models, recently announced by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), are designed to help selected states better coordinate and integrate treatment and support to improve outcomes and reduce costs.

  • Under the MOM model, state Medicaid agencies and care-delivery partners will work to improve care for pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorder (OUD). CMMI will award up to $64.5 million over five years, with the funds divided in varying amounts among up to 12 MOM cooperative agreements.
  • Under the InCK model, state Medicaid agencies and community partners will collaborate to bolster prevention, early identification, and treatment for children covered by Medicaid. CMMI will award up to eight InCK cooperative agreements, with up to $16 million available to each awardee over a seven-year period.

More information about applying for these initiatives is expected in early 2019.

The recent SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act includes a number of provisions that also support children and families affected by SUD, including several provisions that could provide new funding to states and new ways for states to use existing federal funds. A previously-published NASHP blog described some of the law’s provisions affecting state Medicaid agencies, while this blog focuses on other key provisions targeting children and families.

Several of the act’s provisions address the impact of childhood trauma. There are multiple connections between SUD and trauma — childhood trauma is a risk factor for SUD and growing up with a parent who has an SUD is itself considered a traumatic experience. Recognizing the significant and long-lasting impacts of childhood trauma, the SUPPORT Act:

  • Creates an interagency task force to develop best practices for identifying and supporting children and families who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing trauma. The task force is also responsible for crafting a coordinated federal response to families impacted by SUD and other forms of trauma. These best practices and coordinated federal approach will help states as they promote evidence-based approaches to care. (Section 7132)
  • Permits the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to collect data about adverse childhood experiences through existing public health surveys, in cooperation with states, with $2 million in annual funding. States can use the findings to track trends, allocate resources, and refine programs that address adverse childhood experiences. (Section 7131)
  • Authorizes $50 million per year for grants to state, local, and tribal educational agencies to increase student access to trauma support services by linking educational agencies with mental health systems. The US Secretary of Education would administer the grants in coordination with the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use. (Section 7134)

Other parts of the law are designed to strengthen care delivery systems for children and families affected by SUD. These provisions:

  • Authorize $20 million in grants to state governments and other entities to develop and evaluate family-focused SUD residential treatment programs, which permit children to reside with parents in the treatment facility. Due to the recently-enacted Family First Prevention Services Act, evidence-based SUD treatment services for certain parents will soon be eligible for funding from current state allocations of Title IV-E child welfare dollars (learn more in this NASHP blog.) The grants will help additional programs qualify Title IV-E funding. An additional provision requires the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue guidance on how states can promote family-focused residential treatment programs and leverage both Medicaid and Title IV-E funds to support them. (Sections 8083 and 8081)
  • Appropriate $15 million for HHS to conduct a randomized evaluation of a “recovery coach” program that provides integrated treatment and supportive services to parents who have temporarily lost custody of their children due to SUD. If the evaluation shows positive results, the program could potentially be funded using a state’s existing Title IV-E dollars under the Family First Prevention Services Act. (Section 8082)
  • Authorize HHS to provide grants to any state agency to improve implementation of plans of safe care for substance-exposed infants. Existing law requires states to create plans of safe care for all substance-exposed infants. If HHS chooses to award these grants, funds could be used for a number of purposes, including to improve access to treatment, train health professionals and child welfare staff, and strengthen cross-agency collaboration. This provision also requires HHS to provide written guidance and technical assistance outlining how to implement plans of safe care. (Section 7065)

To learn more about how states are supporting children and families with SUD:

NASHP is also in the process of creating a new policy academy that will support states working to improve access to care for Medicaid-eligible pregnant and parenting women with SUD and/or mental health conditions. The call for applications will be released in December 2018.

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