Minnesota State Grant for the Implementation, Enhancement, and Expansion of Medicaid and CHIP School-Based Services - In 2022 a new School Based Community Services (SBCS) model was introduced for Medicaid reimbursement in schools. Unfortunately, a variety of systemic barriers have prevented schools, especially rural, remote, and tribal adjacent districts, from billing Medicaid under SBCS. The Minnesota Department of Human Services (MN DHS), in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), is proposing a project to support local education agencies and individual schools in enhancing the delivery of and access to behavioral health services in Minnesota schools. The goals of the project will involve identifying barriers to providing Medicaid services for behavioral health conditions in school settings and enhancing school capacity to bill Medicaid reimbursement for these services. The total budget of the project is $2,500,000. Project funds will be used to hire a project director to guide the work, an interagency specialist within MDE to support implementation, and a Medicaid specialist to support schools in implementing Medicaid billing guidelines. Within the first six months, funds will also be allocated towards statewide stakeholder engagement and a survey, which will inform the development of two needs assessments we will employ to detect specific challenges faced by schools. In years two and three funding will be available to schools, particularly rural, remote, and tribal adjacent districts, to support their infrastructure and capacity limitations identified in the Needs Assessment. Additionally, we will hire "navigators," who will be responsible for assisting schools with initial implementation, capacity building, continuous improvement of billing processes, proficiency with Medicaid requirements, and addressing barriers to providing behavioral health services in school settings.
