There are some exciting changes happening in California’s Medi-Cal system of care! The initiative, California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) represents “a long-term commitment to transform and strengthen Medi-Cal, offering Californians a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered approach to maximizing their health and life trajectory.” CalAIM lifts up prevention, wellness and person-centered care.
For Seneca’s school partnership programs, this is really moving. Much of our work is funded through Medi-Cal, but the eligibility criteria for Medi-Cal services can be quite restrictive and has made it harder for us to establish truly sustainable early intervention and prevention services. Such prevention services usually require a separate funding source, which can be hard to count on year after year. With these groundbreaking CalAIM policies, we see the possibility of serving more youth earlier, intervening at a time that is often the most effective, before a crisis. We also will be able to serve many youths who have experienced trauma without ever having to label them with a diagnosis. It’s truly a paradigm shift!
For Seneca’s school partnership programs, this is really moving. Much of our work is funded through Medi-Cal, but the eligibility criteria for Medi-Cal services can be quite restrictive and has made it harder for us to establish truly sustainable early intervention and prevention services. Such prevention services usually require a separate funding source, which can be hard to count on year after year. With these groundbreaking CalAIM policies, we see the possibility of serving more youth earlier, intervening at a time that is often the most effective, before a crisis. We also will be able to serve many youths who have experienced trauma without ever having to label them with a diagnosis. It’s truly a paradigm shift!
Advancing Equity
CalAIM is about building a healthier and more equitable state, with an emphasis on “whole person care” and looking at social drivers of health. From the DCHS website, the message is clear:
CalAIM is about building a healthier and more equitable state, with an emphasis on “whole person care” and looking at social drivers of health. From the DCHS website, the message is clear:
“Black and Latino Californians have long faced health disparities that are the result of longstanding, structural racism in the health care system, housing, and employment. The pandemic exacerbated these inequities and underscored the need for CalAIM’s investment in Community Supports, and home and community-based services, including interventions that address social drivers of health. These lessons learned are at the heart of the CalAIM system transformation.”
The social justice tenets of these policies are more than just words on a website; we’ve already been able to expand our services to work with new clients more quickly. As counties build out their systems to support these changes, we expect to see increasingly flexible and expansive opportunities to serve youth in ways they need and want to be served.
Riding the Waves of Change
The direction that California is going fills me with so much hope. It’s not often we find ourselves announcing that access to services might actually be getting easier. This is truly something to celebrate! As we adapt these big ideas into our practice, there will undoubtedly be a period of uncertainty. So far, it seems clear that the ultimate payoff for our clients and practitioners will be absolutely worth it.
Riding the Waves of Change
The direction that California is going fills me with so much hope. It’s not often we find ourselves announcing that access to services might actually be getting easier. This is truly something to celebrate! As we adapt these big ideas into our practice, there will undoubtedly be a period of uncertainty. So far, it seems clear that the ultimate payoff for our clients and practitioners will be absolutely worth it.
You can read more about the CalAIM policies at the DHCS website by clicking here!
Or, see below to watch this short video:
Or, see below to watch this short video:
Blog Post Written By: Emily Marsh, Director of Clinical Intervention Services
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