12:30 – 2 pm, January 8, 2018
DC Department of Health Care Finance
441 4TH Street NW, Room 1028 (Main Street)
Call-In: 1-877-686-5019 PIN: 1961351
WHAT: To ensure more cohesive oversight of the District’s mental health service providers, the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) is seeking to transition administrative and programmatic oversight of free-standing mental health clinic providers (FSMHCs) to the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) in FY 2019. This meeting will offer an opportunity for interested stakeholders, including service providers, advocates and beneficiaries, to provide input on the proposed transition and share any key questions or considerations with DHCF and DBH.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: FSMHC providers, community stakeholders, and other interested parties.
BACKGROUND: FSMHCs were established under the District Medicaid State Plan as a clinic service in
1981. Historically, FSMHCs were the primary entities providing mental health services under Medicaid. In 2001, the District’s Medicaid State Plan was amended to provide more comprehensive, Medicaidfunded,mental health benefits and providers for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness under the Mental Health and Rehabilitative Services (MHRS) benefit. The State Plan MHRS provisions designated the Department of Mental Health (DBH’s predecessor agency) to serve as DHCF’s agent to deliver MHRS and oversee providers of MHRS services. This has created dual oversight of mental health services, under DBH authority for MHRS and other services, and under DHCF for FSMHC services. Today, many MHRS providers also are FSMHC providers, subjecting them to dual oversight.
Given DBH’s role as the primary authority for mental health services delivery and oversight and the need for more consistent oversight of mental health providers, DHCF and DBH are seeking a transfer of FSMHC oversight to DBH, effective FY 2019.
CONTACT US: If you need additional information, please contact Eugene Simms (DHCF) at [email protected], James Wotring (DBH) at [email protected], or Jana Berhow (DBH) at [email protected].
