Categories: Health

Know details of State Youth Physical and Mental Health Scheme

RALEIGH – North Carolina Gov. Andrew Cuomo is moving forward on a state plan to improve the behavioral health of children and youth, and is expected to launch it later this year.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reported that with recent approval from lawmakers to get the go-ahead, the expected launch date for the “Special Plan for Children and Families” is later this year.

Children living in foster care, children receiving assistance with adoption and youth under the age of 26 who were in foster care will be eligible.

With this, the government seeks to guarantee access to comprehensive physical and behavioral health services at no cost to them and their families.

In an updated document released this month, the department detailed that the scheme will have a broad coverage of services that includes everything from disease detection to psychiatric treatment.

He highlighted that on the first day of the launch of the new health scheme, thousands of children are expected to be automatically enrolled in services.

Thus, this plan will provide assistance to children and youth enrolled in Medicaid and cared for by the Department.

Behavioral health describes the relationship between a person’s behavior and the health and well-being of body and mind.

scheme benefits

The plan will provide many of the physical and behavioral health benefits covered by Medicaid.

The Department clarifies that these benefits will be given regardless of the geographical location or status of the beneficiary.

In the document, it states that it includes all the services provided by the standard plan, in addition to most of the services in the customized Medicaid plan.

These plans include physical health services, pharmacy, care management, and basic behavioral health services.

As well as more comprehensive services for people who may have mental health problems, substance use disorders, intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The plan also covers a wide range of behavioral health services, including:

Initial and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment services.
Outpatient treatment.
Treatment in hospital.
Medical and crisis housing options for children.
Psychiatric residential treatment.

A request for proposals will be issued in the coming weeks to appoint the organization that will help manage it.

Who is eligible?

The department states in its updated document that eligible people are:

Children and youth who are currently or formerly in foster care.
Children and youth receiving assistance through adoption, as well as their families.
Youth under the age of 26 who have been in foster care.
Minor children of persons eligible for registration while the father or mother remains registered.
Parents, relatives, caregivers, guardians and custodians with children in foster care.
Younger siblings of children/young people in foster care.
Particularly families receiving in-home services from Child Protective Services or CPS.

Behavioral health, a serious problem among children and youth

In North Carolina, one in five high school students have seriously considered suicide, the department warned.

The department has warned that this percentage has been increasing in the last decade. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of children discharged from the emergency department with a behavioral health condition increased by 70%.

It highlights that nationally, children and youth in foster care use inpatient and outpatient mental health services at a rate 15 to 20 times higher than the general pediatric population and approximately 60% have a chronic medical condition. it occurs.

“Without appropriate supports, these conditions can persist and negatively impact short- and long-term health outcomes into adulthood,” said Susan Osborn, NCDHHS Under Secretary for Opportunity and Well-being.