Georgia MATCH (Mobilizing Access to Care and Hope) Project 2023 - The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) and its Division of Behavioral Health, along with its provider network and child serving partners, have a celebrated history of implementing and sustaining SAMHSA funded system of care projects. To further develop the existing infrastructure, DBHDD will implement the Georgia MATCH (Mobilizing Access to Care and Hope) Project. The MATCH Project is a multiagency care coordination initiative predicated on removing barriers and obstacles so that children in need may access services in a timely and efficient manner. One hundred at risk youth (i.e., 6 – 21 years who are experiencing mental health crisis and are in need of immediate support) will be served annually, resulting in an unduplicated 400 youth served. In the current system youth entering in, or exiting, services can enter a state of limbo which results in elongated timelines and additional stress on that of the youth and their family. To alleviate these challenges and ultimately create a more streamlined process, MATCH will fill gaps through interagency collaborations, workforce development investment(s), and high efficacious service delivery, all done in accordance with the fundamental values of system of care. Project partners will implement the required and allowable activities by studying, developing and piloting a formalized, multi-agency care coordination protocol focused on removing barriers and expediting access to the appropriate level of care at the right time for youth and families. The approach, MATCH (Mobilizing Access to Care and Hope) will include: 1) Adding a pre-enrollment care coordination stage to Georgia’s high-fidelity wraparound intervention, Intensive Customized Care Coordination (IC3); 2) facilitating referrals and linkage to services and supports during the pre-enrollment stage for youth not meeting IC3 eligibility criteria; 3) increasing IC3 enrollment for youth meeting eligibility criteria; and 4) evaluating outcomes. MATCH will include trauma informed systems training, high fidelity wraparound, as well as the inculcation of the lived experience voice and perspective, throughout the project and Georgia System of Care. Through the duration of the grant, strict data monitoring strategies will be employed to measure project impact. This includes baseline and follow up data using SAMHSA provided measures (e.g., Client-Level National Outcomes Measures) as well as other instruments assessing clinical outcomes (e.g., Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths) and impairment (e.g., Columbia Impairment Scale).
