ValueOptions

Situation

The current system of delivery for behavioral health services is, according to President Bush’s New Freedom Commission, “fragmented and in disarray, leading to unnecessary and costly disability, homelessness, school failure and incarceration”. As a result only a fraction of the people who need services receive them.

Solution

There are significant opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the provision of publicly-funded mental health and human services. State administrators are beginning to realize the benefits of extending new technologies beyond just Medicaid to include other services that are needed or used by people with mental disorders (for example child welfare, juvenile justice, vocational rehab, substance abuse treatment, housing etc.).

Through braiding of federal, state, and local funding streams a comprehensive and coordinated system of care can be developed that addresses the concerns expressed by the New Freedom Commission.

Better Health Lower Costs

• Increased access to services at the right time, at the right place, for the right reason
  
• Increased accountability through enhanced data and reporting across funding streams. State leadership has meaningful data representing the entire delivery system for policymaking and planning initiatives.
  
• Savings reinvested into the behavioral health care system