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Bringing Into Focus: Financing School Mental Health Services NCSSLE' s Bringing Into Focus shares carefully selected, high quality resources on timely topics to help educators create safe, supportive learning environments.

Our national health care systems are increasingly recognizing how schools can help children and adolescents access and benefit from vital health care and mental health supports. Dedicated funding can support the provision of screening, diagnostics, early intervention, treatment, and aftercare to students that contribute to their success in school. Prevention, ongoing surveillance, and early detection of students’ physical and psychological concerns by qualified health care providers, can also generate supports and interventions to minimize illness and alleviate mental stress. About half of K-12 students have Medicaid or CHIP coverage, and almost all the others are covered by individual or employer-sponsored commercial insurance. Especially during the national COVID-19 emergency, Medicaid, CHIP, and other qualified health plans, have expanded flexibilities to increase their coverage for health care and mental health service options that students need now.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services: COVID-19 Resources

Click here to access the resources. Click here to access a document listing the changes CMS has made to adapt to the ongoing pandemic.

This site shares frequent and extensive updates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on health and health care-related aspects of the current coronavirus public health emergency, including available flexibilities that are central to decision-making by school health officials and collaborative cross-sector partnerships to address health care and mental health needs of students and families.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

COVID-19 FAQ on State Medicaid and CHIP Agencies Source: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services This document posts frequently asked questions and official federal responses to aid state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  These FAQs cover a variety of topics, including: Emergency Preparedness and Response; Eligibility and Enrollment Flexibilities; Benefit Flexibilities; Cost-Sharing Flexibilities; Financing Flexibilities; Information Technology Flexibilities; and more.  State Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Toolkit Source: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services This toolkit Identifies policy topics that states should address to facilitate widespread adoption of telehealth services. CMS has issued this updated toolkit to help states identify policies that may impede the rapid deployment of telehealth, as part of the Administration’s efforts to ensure that Americans (e.g. students) can access the health care services they need through electronic and virtual means, minimizing travel to healthcare facilities and supporting efforts to limit community spread of the virus. COVID-19 Related State Actions Source: Center for Connected Health Policy This webpage provides an up-to-date, state-by-state, list of actions many states have taken to remove telehealth barriers to address the pandemic on at least a temporary basis. This list is compiled and updated regularly by the National Telehealth Policy Resource Center, Center for Connected Health Policy. The webpage also includes links to states waiving licensure/renewal requirements, including for telehealth.

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National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments | https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov The contents of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments' Bringing Into Focus were assembled under a contract from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools to the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Contract Number ED-ESE-16-A-0002. The contents of this product do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor do they imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education. ‌ ‌ ‌