Products and Resources Catalog

Download the presentation slides here Medicaid is a leading source of financing for school mental health services and programs.  As Medicaid policies change, there may be greater opportunities for mental health providers to bill Medicaid for more services in schools.  In this two-part webinar event, Dr. Adam Wilk (SE MHTTC Policy Lead) will describe key policies that govern Medicaid funding for school mental health services, and how they can be changed to increase school mental health funding.  He will provide examples of states that have pursued specific reforms, and he will also highlight important resources that can help school mental health leaders to identify what steps may be most appropriate to take in their home state.  This series is designed for school mental health leaders who are interested in learning 1) about the fundamentals of Medicaid financing of school mental health services and 2) about options for changing Medicaid policy to better support school mental health systems and services. Part 1 will focus on policies related to who is eligible for Medicaid coverage and what services Medicaid covers.   Learning Objectives: Specify when Medicaid can be billed for school mental health services. Discuss how Medicaid policies affect who may be eligible for coverage under Medicaid and what services may be covered by Medicaid. Describe and distinguish the two main pathways for reforming state Medicaid eligibility and service coverage policies in support of school mental health.  

This is a recording of, “Session 3 of October Rising Practices Series - Interrupting Bullying & Fostering Belonging for the School Mental Health Workforce,” on October 26, 2023. In our final session in this three-part series, Region 9 School Mental Health Field Director Leora Wolf-Prusan moderated a panel discussion that offered learnings about the power of bias reduction curricula in elementary schools, and the ways in which school district and county systems can shift internal cultures to be welcoming drivers of equitable compassion. Among other themes, the session uplifted new practices of how to respond to and interrupt xenophobia and anti-immigrant hate in our classrooms.    This workshop recording features guest speakers including Drs. Carrie Langner and Linda Lee with California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Dr. Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj with the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Valerie White, LCSW, M.Ed, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Magical Minds.    The session's guiding questions were: What might the school mental health workforce need to know about the difference and similarities between abuse, harassment, and bullying in k-12 contexts? What might be new or pressing phenomena related to bullying (e.g., anti-LGBTQIA+ bullying or the intersection of bullying and suicidality) for which we need to raise awareness? What challenges do we foresee at the workforce level, and what training, resources, or other support would help resolve these challenges? What might be some rising practices, policies and successful strategies for anti-bullying policies and practices?   This session was designed school administration, site and systems leaders, school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists, educators, instructional coaches, school climate personnel, after school program providers, child advocates, and whoever else is interested!

This is a recording of, “Interrupting Bullying & Fostering Belonging for the General Mental Health Workforce,” on October 24, 2023. In honor of October’s National Bullying Prevention Month, the Pacific Southwest MHTTC hosted a series of learning sessions to augment mental health providers and systems leaders’ knowledge, skills, and approaches for effectively responding to and preventing bullying while also fostering belonging. In dialogue with a set of regional leaders and specialists, including Jennifer Pardini, Community Education Coordinator at Legal Assistance for Seniors; Dr. Nellie Tran, Professor of Counseling and School Psychology at San Diego State University and Executive Director of the SDSU Center for Community Counseling & Engagement; and Robin Kincaid, Program Director of Nevada PEP’s Safe Allies and Education Services, we explored new phenomena related to bullying (e.g., anti-immigrant harassment, elder abuse, workplace bullying) and strategies for fostering belonging. This panel event brought to light the challenges foreseen at the workforce level, and identified training, resources, and other support to help resolve them. Our Pacific Southwest Team centered conversations around rising practices, policies, and successful strategies for bullying prevention and response. This session was designed for psychologists, community mental health workers, community health center professionals, social workers, marriage and family therapists, pre-service graduate students, and anyone else interested!"

This is a recording of Region 9's webinar, "California CARE Court: What Providers Need to Know" that took place on August 8, 2023.    In this session, the Pacific Southwest MHTTC brought together key stakeholders in the California’s CARE Act, including Orange County’s Chief of Mental Health and Recovery Services Dr Veronica Kelley, Urban Los Angeles NAMI Executive Director Harold Turner, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Honorable James Bianco and the former Director of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics, Christopher Schneiders.  These subject area experts each presented an overview of the CARE Act and discussed the opportunities and challenges to self-determination for individuals with serious mental illness (SDM, PADs, Care Plans). Pacific Southwest MHTTC’s Research Associate, Amanda Lipp moderated this panel and a discussion on the CARE Act's new framework for family members and other stakeholders to petition the courts and provide support during the CARE process.   This panel presentation video is suitable for a viewership of leaders within the peer, family-advocacy, judicial, and mental health field.

This is a recording of Session 3 of Rising Practices & Policies Revisited - Working with Youth and Families Experiencing Homelessness and Home Insecurity, which occurred on July 10, 2023. In this session, Pacific Southwest MHTTC's Co-Director Miranda March hosted and Technical Assistance Specialist Evelyn Clark facilitated a panel discussion on how community-based organizations, mental health systems, and school services are responding to the issues, challenges, and needs of home insecurity and what rising practices and policies are emerging to meet the mental and school mental health needs of people experiencing the impact of structural inequities. The Session 3 panelists included Program Specialist of Homeless Education for the Orange County Department of Education, Elida Sanchez; Executive Director of CARE Olympia, Emily Clouse; Special Projects Coordinator for McKinney-Vento & Foster Care Liaison, Hannah Etchison; and Samantha Taitano who serves as Executive Director of Manelu in Guam. In this session, we explored the following questions and more: How can we interrupt the stigmatization of homelessness and foster safe and equitable access to mental health services? How are school and community-based mental health partners utilizing the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and other federal funding streams to maximize the workforce’s skills and support? How can we increase access to school services and supports? How can we collaborate with services that address compounding issues (e.g., interpersonal violence, the foster system) to be innovative in our approaches?

Download the presentation slides here Session Overview: Medicaid is a leading source of financing for school mental health services and programs.  Looking forward, LEAs and mental health providers may be able to bill Medicaid for more services if there is better alignment between Medicaid policies and the services provided.  In this webinar event, Dr. Adam Wilk (SE MHTTC Policy Lead) will describe key processes through which Medicaid policies can be changed to increase Medicaid funding support for school mental health services.  He will provide examples of states that have pursued specific reforms, and he will also highlight important resources that can help school mental health leaders to identify what steps may be most appropriate to take in their home state.  This session is designed for those who are interested in learning more about options for changing Medicaid policy to better support school mental health systems and services.   Learning Objectives: Specify when Medicaid can be billed for school mental health services (including services that today are provided but not billed). Describe and distinguish the two main pathways for reforming state Medicaid programs in support of school mental health. Reference examples of other states that have pursued Medicaid reforms to advance school mental health systems.   Speaker:    Adam Wilk is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public health.  He is the Financial Policy Lead for the Southeast Region’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center: Administrative Supplement on School-based Mental Health.  Dr. Wilk is a health economist and health services researcher, conducting research on Medicaid and underserved populations, physician decision-making, and the management of complex, chronically ill patients.  He received his doctorate at The University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2015.  Before his time in Michigan, Dr. Wilk worked at The Brookings Institution and as a consultant at The Lewin Group.

This is a recording of “Session 1: 988 Turns One! How Did it Go and How Can it Grow?” in the Rising Practices & Policies Revisited: Emerging Priorities in Mental & School Mental Health series.  On May 8, 2023, our Center’s Co-Director Dr. Miranda March hosted this Session 1, a panel discussion on how school and mental health leaders from our Pacific Southwest region have implemented 988, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline that launched in July of 2022. The panel was moderated by Danielle Raghib, Technical Assistance Specialist with the Center for Applied Research Solutions and featured CJ Loiselle, David Lopez, Kelly Marschall and Dr. Margie Balfour.  View this recording to hear the panelists' presentations and a Q&A with participants regarding the following questions, and more: How has the launch of 988 gone and how has it served the communities in our region? What are some of the challenges and wins? What are some of the lessons learned in the implementation of 988 (what worked and didn’t work, any models adopted, any emerging practices emerging)?

  LEARNING SUMMARY Launching 988: What Do We Need to Know and How Might It Go? In May of 2022, MHTTC's Region 9 convened mental health crisis system professionals to learn how our region was preparing for the July 2022 launch of 988, the new front-facing number for suicide prevention and mental health crisis response. This new system operates through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifelines, a network of 200 locally operated and funded crisis centers in the U.S. The launch of 988 created a universal entry point to trained crisis counselors and increased the nation’s capacity to circumvent law enforcement response to mental health crises. The system also reduces the number of admissions through the emergency room for people experiencing a mental health crisis, freeing up beds for other patients and reducing the cost of care. Recognizing that this once-in-a-generation opportunity requires intentional change management, MHTTC’s session explored considerations and strategies for 988 adoption and integration. Highlights from the panelists and group discussion, along with resources shared, are presented in this document. 

LEARNING SUMMARY: RISING PRACTICES & POLICIES IN OUR WORKFORCE: REGION 9's 2022 SPRING & SUMMER FOUR PART SERIES  In the Spring and Summer of 2022, the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC) brought together regional leaders and implementers in a four-part learning series on emerging issues for the mental health and school mental health workforce with the goal of identifying considerations and elevating promising practices. This document includes a learning capture of all four sessions in this series. It includes each of the webinar recordings, highlights of the resources, ideas and learnings from the sessions.  Below are the titles of each panel event in the series. Session 1: Launching 988: What Do We Need to Know and How Might It Go? Session 2: Mitigating Distress & Maximizing Supports for Refugees from War Session 3: Working with Youth and Families Experiencing Homelessness and Home Insecurity Session 4: The Woes and Wonders of Recruitment and Retention in the Mental Health and School Mental Health Workforce  

Download the presentation slides here Session Overview:  The Biden Administration and Congress are showing renewed commitment to improving school-based mental health and substance use disorders services for young people. Through passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022), we expect to see new federal guidance (revising policies that have not been updated in almost 20 years), the launch of a school Medicaid technical assistance center, and $50 million in state grants. In this webinar event, Lena O’Rourke (on behalf of Healthy Schools Campaign), Orla Kennedy and Dusan Stojicic (Community Catalyst) will explain how school mental health leaders can leverage these opportunities to improve school-based health services, including meaningfully engaging young people in that process.   Learning Objectives: By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to: 1. Identify key federal opportunities from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act for financing school-based mental health and substance use programs for young people.  2. Identify strategies for engaging leaders at the school, district, and state levels to effectively leverage these financing opportunities 3. Identify ways to meaningfully engage youth when leveraging these federal financing channels to improve school-based health services   Speakers:      Lena O’Rourke (she, her), on behalf of Healthy Schools Campaign Lena O’Rourke is founder and Principal at O’Rourke Health Policy Strategies. She is an experienced health care policy analyst and strategist focused on expanding access to high quality, affordable health insurance and Medicaid. Her work focuses on national and state policy campaigns to influence legislative and regulatory policy. Lena has worked as a health care and social justice advocate for over 20 years. Most recently, she worked intensively on federal and state policy to expand and strengthen the ability of states and school districts to leverage school Medicaid to support student health and wellness. She leads the Healthy Students, Promising Futures Learning Collaborative (HSPF), a project of Healthy Schools Campaign. In this role, Lena provides support directly to state Medicaid agencies, state departments of education, and school districts on policy opportunities and choices to expand and enhance school-based Medicaid programs. In this role she also works with federal legislators and policymakers to offer support, technical assistance, and to share the experiences of states on school Medicaid.     Orla Kennedy (she, her), Senior Policy Analyst, Community Catalyst Orla Kennedy is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Substance Use Disorders team at Community Catalyst, where she advocates for policy changes to improve substance use disorders treatment and recovery support services and promote alternatives to incarceration. Orla has experience in policy research and analysis, community engagement, and technical assistance. She has worked at John Snow, Inc., Harvard School of Public Health and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Orla brings her public health perspective to Community Catalyst, and is passionate about health equity and improving health outcomes for underserved populations. Orla has a Master of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor’s from Providence College.     Dusan Stojicic (he, him), Associate Program Director, Community Catalyst Dusan Stojicic is Associate Director for the Substance Use Disorders and Justice-Involved Populations Program at Community Catalyst as well as an individual with lived experience of substance use disorders. As part of the program, he assists in managing initiatives to ensure that affordable and appropriate prevention, early intervention, and treatment services are available to all. This includes organizing communities, developing policy alternatives, and advocating for change in public policy and regulatory policy. Originally trained as a health economist, Dusan has gained most of his experience in working with communities directly. Dusan holds a Master's degree in Health Economics and Analysis from the Heller School at Brandeis University.    

About this Resource:  This webinar is motivated by the reality that the majority of individuals diagnosed with ‘serious mental illness’ face significant socioeconomic challenges and high rates of employment.  In place of discrete “one size fits all” evidence-based practices, during this presentation Nev Jones, PhD discusses the broader landscape of strategies for improving outcomes across the spectrum of individuals who are currently seeking education or work or have applied for or are already receiving SSI/SSI.  Specific topics Dr. Jones covers include career development and career mobility supports, SSI/SSDI decision making, and financial empowerment strategies for individuals currently unable to work or attend school. 

Download the presentation slides here About the Session:  Medicaid is a leading source of financing for school mental health services and programs.  In this webinar event, Dr. Adam Wilk (SE MHTTC Policy Lead) will orient attendees to nearly 20 resources – reports, infographics, webinar recordings, and more – that help to explain the role of Medicaid in school mental health financing and how to use it to pay for mental health services in schools. View all of our Medicaid related products in our resource catalogue here.  Learning Objectives:  Contextualize Medicaid among leading sources of financing for school mental health services. Access key resources that specify when Medicaid can support school mental health services and programs. Identify additional resources that explore nuances of how Medicaid finances school mental health services and programs.   Speaker:    Adam Wilk is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public health.  He is the Financial Policy Lead for the Southeast Region’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center: Administrative Supplement on School-based Mental Health.  Dr. Wilk is a health economist and health services researcher, conducting research on Medicaid and underserved populations, physician decision-making, and the management of complex, chronically ill patients.  He received his doctorate at The University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2015.  Before his time in Michigan, Dr. Wilk worked at The Brookings Institution and as a consultant at The Lewin Group.

Every state’s Medicaid program has different requirements for reimbursing school mental health (SMH) services. In many cases, expanding coverage of SMH services in Medicaid requires seeking approval from the federal government for a State Plan Amendment (SPA) and/or a Medicaid waiver to make changes to these requirements. In this short report, we introduce SPAs and Medicaid waivers, and we give examples of how states have leveraged SPAs and Medicaid waivers to expand coverage of SMH services in their Medicaid programs.

This report summarizes federal and state guidance on using the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, approved as part of multiple federal COVID-19 relief bills (2020-2021), to provide school mental health services and supports.  Information about state-level guidance is focused on the eight states in the Southeast region (HHS Region 4).

Medicaid is an important source of financing for school mental health services. In this report, we discuss how schools can finance school mental health services through Medicaid by answering some frequently asked questions. Among our answers, we describe the requirements for seeking Medicaid reimbursement for school metal health services, we discuss additional complexity in the context of Medicaid Managed Care, and we highlight examples of how states have leveraged Medicaid State Plan Amendments and Medicaid Waivers to expand coverage of school mental health services under Medicaid.

This report summarizes state policies newly introduced between October 2020 and May 2022 to support school MH services in the Southeast region (HHS Region 4) of the U.S.  This is the third in a series of reports on school MH policies in the Southeast.  Previous reports were published in October 2020 and in November 2019.

July 13, 2022 Before the COVID-19 pandemic, youth mental health was a burgeoning public health crisis, with the number of youth experiencing serious mental health challenges, substance misuse, and suicidal ideation rising exponentially year after year (Twenge et al., 2019). The global pandemic of coronavirus disease has exacerbated this problem, shedding light on the multiple factors responsible for this crisis, while increasing pressure on governmental, public, and community groups to respond. We developed this tip sheet to help jumpstart your own advocacy efforts to improve mental health services for youth. We address the basics—how, where, who—and give practical, targeted, and effective recommendations to help you explain why there is an urgent need to increase school mental health services.

Download the presentation slides here.   Session Overview In this foundational webinar, Dr. Adam Wilk will provide an overview of Medicaid and an introduction to how Medicaid finances school mental health services. He will discuss the Medicaid benefits that can cover school mental health services, what child populations can be eligible for Medicaid, what providers can bill Medicaid for school mental health services, and related considerations for schools and community mental health providers. Dr. Wilk and Allison Hu, the lead author of a new report that answers frequently asked questions about Medicaid and school mental health, will conclude the webinar by answering attendees' questions.   Learning Objectives  Identify the four requirements for receiving Medicaid reimbursement for school mental health services.  Identify Medicaid benefits that can cover school mental health services.  Identify services covered by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit.    Speakers: Adam Wilk is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public health.  He is the Financial Policy Lead for the Southeast Region’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center: Administrative Supplement on School-based Mental Health.  Dr. Wilk is a health economist and health services researcher, conducting research on Medicaid and underserved populations, physician decision-making, and the management of complex, chronically ill patients.  He received his doctorate at The University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2015.  Before his time in Michigan, Dr. Wilk worked at The Brookings Institution and as a consultant at The Lewin Group.     Allison Ju-Chen Hu is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. She is a research assistant for the Southeast Mental Health Technology Transfer Center: Administrative Supplement on School-based Mental Health. Her research interests include Medicaid, access to care among underserved populations, health disparities, and mental health. She received her Master of Health Services Administration degree at The University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2018.

This infographic presents policy efforts in the Southeast U.S. to expand the school mental health workforce in 2015-2020. 

Schools can receive Medicaid reimbursement for certain qualifying administrative activities (e.g., outreach and enrollment, supports of Medicaid-eligible direct services). This infographic highlights two broad classes of administrative activities that are often reimbursable under Medicaid.

Many Medicaid-eligible school-based services are reimbursed under a cost-based system. This infographic provides an introduction to cost-based reimbursement systems.   Financing School Based Services Through Medicaid Comparing reimbursement systems: Fee for Service (FFS) VS. Cost-Based  How Are Local Education Agencies (LEAs) Paid Under Cost-Based Reimbursement?

In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC provides a rationale to address Social Determinants of Health in primary care settings. The presentation provides a broad overview of the topic and serves as introduction to future presentations of specific conditions by which people live, work and age. In particular, participants of this presentation will: Define social determinants of health, health equity and health disparities Describe the impact of social determinants on health outcomes Understand the importance of assessing for common social determinants of health in primary care settings Identify actionable steps to screen and refer to community supports for social determinants of health Learn more about Context Clues: Using Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) to Enhance Treatment.

In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC provides a rationale to address Social Determinants of Health in primary care settings. The presentation provides a broad overview of the topic and serves as introduction to future presentations of specific conditions by which people live, work and age. In particular, participants of this presentation will: Define social determinants of health, health equity and health disparities Describe the impact of social determinants on health outcomes Understand the importance of assessing for common social determinants of health in primary care settings Identify actionable steps to screen and refer to community supports for social determinants of health Learn more about Context Clues: Using Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) to Enhance Treatment.

Local Education Agencies generally have two staffing approaches to provide school-based mental health services: (1) hire their own personnel, and (2) partner with community-based providers. This infographic outlines the advantages of each staffing approach in regard to administrative burden, access to services, and revenue.