Introduction to Work on Residential Services for Youth with Behavioral Health Needs

Medicaid supports a wide range of behavioral health services for children including residential treatment programs. In response to the Commission’s continued interest in services for Medicaid-enrolled children and youth, MACPAC has initiated work to examine how Medicaid ensures that children and youth with serious behavioral health conditions appropriately access intensive services in residential settings following an assessment of their needs and the certification of medical necessity for this level of care. In this first phase of work, we are examining the challenges states face in providing appropriate and timely access to intensive residential treatment services for youth, including older age youth, those with prior admission to acute care settings, and youth with co-occurring conditions such as intellectual or developmental disabilities. This work on appropriate access to children’s residential services is the first part of our ongoing focus on children’s behavioral health in this and future analytic cycles.