States have a distinct ability to tailor programs to meet the specific needs of their communities. With more children facing behavioral health issues, governors and state legislatures are increasingly prioritizing child behavioral health in their state budgets, with funds allocated to programs that address youth behavioral health.
Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) compiled a behavioral health initiative tracker to capture state-funded efforts and provided an in-depth look in a recent webinar, with the goal of informing our federal policy work and members' advocacy efforts at the state level.
The tracker outlines the following information for each state initiative included:
- The initiative or program’s name.
- Which of CHA’s six priority areas the program falls under: Medicaid rates, prevention, infrastructure investment and capacity, parity, telehealth as a solution, or investments in outpatient and community-based services.
- The funding amount allocated for the initiative or program.
- A link to the state budget document referenced.
- Any other noteworthy details related to the initiative/program.
Key themes from FY 2023 initiatives
- Increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates. Eleven states allocated funds to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers for behavioral health services.
- School-based behavioral health interventions. Twelve states funded school-based initiatives for youth who need behavioral health services.
- Behavioral health workforce. Twelve states provided investments towards expanding the behavioral health provider workforce in their states.
This resource will be updated to include behavioral health initiatives funded by states in their FY 2024 state budgets. CHA will monitor this information as FY 2024 budgets are released and approved throughout the second half of 2023.
