Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Newsletter
April 15, 2024
The YES newsletter will bring you the latest updates on Idaho's Youth Empowerment Services (YES) system of care for children's mental health. Keep your eyes on your inbox! Please share with anyone who you think would be interested in receiving regular updates.
Articles In This Edition
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For more information about YES, please visit YES.idaho.gov.
A continued partnership with BPA Health, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) is pleased to announce positive changes and expansions to the Idaho Vouchered Respite Care program! This program provides up to two $600 vouchers per year to parent(s)/legal guardian(s) of youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED). These vouchers help give the primary caregivers time to decompress and tend to other matters with the peace of mind that their child is being cared for by someone they know and trust.
Families have always been able to choose a respite caregiver from their natural support system; however, historically, it was narrowly defined as a friend, neighbor, or relative living outside the youth’s home. The primary caregivers now have the option of getting their needed respite time while their youth is participating in an enriching activity and potentially building individual strengths.
Additionally, the application process has become easier with much less paperwork needed. Previously, parents/legal guardians needed to provide their youth’s complete Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tool and their Comprehensive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA). Now, the parent(s)/legal guardian(s) does the following:
- Complete the intake packet online
- Submit the first and last page of the CANS
- Submit the CANS page that shows “Access to Childcare/Respite” scored as an actionable need (2 or 3)
For more information or to apply for Vouchered Respite Care, please
visit https://www.bpahealth.com/respite-care/ or call BPA Health
at 1-800-211-9477
Youth Crisis Centers (YCCs) provide a calm environment for youth experiencing a mental health crisis to de-escalate. While at the center, mental health trained staff work to divert youth from costly and unnecessary hospitalizations or encounters with law enforcement by offering short-term intervention services in a safe environment.
One of Idaho’s new YCCs, ProActive Youth & Family Support Center (ProActive) in Twin Falls, is helping to reduce the strain on community partners, specifically the local area hospitals and law enforcement. Over the course of its first five months of operations (August – December 2023), ProActive estimated $153,632 was saved because youth were diverted from the Emergency Room (ER) to crisis care at ProActive. An additional estimated $1,084 of costs to local law enforcement were avoided during the same period.
Individuals in crisis who have been brought to hospital ERs for stabilization have reported experiencing increased distress and worsening symptoms. This is reportedly due to noise, crowding, limited privacy in the triage area, and being attended to by staff with little psychiatric crisis care experience. It is likely that the services provided by ProActive not only led to cost diversion savings but were also better suited to youth’s needs. Results of satisfaction surveys provided preliminary evidence that the crisis care services were a good fit for nearly all the youth and caregivers. For example, 96% of youth who received services between October and December 2023 said they would return to ProActive if they were at risk of self-harm or relapse, and 89% of caregivers reported they would return if their child were in crisis in the future.
Idaho’s Youth Empowerment Services (YES) has rolled out a new webpage that quickly connects you to crisis resources for youth and their families with mental health concerns.
You can see the Crisis Resources page here.
Straight from the Yes.Idaho.Gov homepage, it is directly available in the top menu. One click to find resources you may need if you feel your children or teens may be in a mental health crisis. Even if you are just worried, there are resources that can help.
From there:
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Contact Idaho’s growing network of Youth Crisis Centers: Currently open 24/7, voluntary, and free of charge in Boise, Nampa, Twin Falls, and Idaho Falls. The Youth Crisis Centers provide a calm environment for youth ages 12-17 to de-escalate in the early stages of crisis before more expensive and restrictive options may be needed. They provide support and connections to other services to help. No referrals are needed, and walk-ins are welcome.
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Connect to crisis phone lines: Around the state available to talk 24/7.
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A statewide crisis line: Operated by the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan Managed Care Organization, available 24/7 if you feel overwhelmed and just need to talk.
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Easy call or text connections to 988, the Idaho Crisis and Suicide Hotline: If you are considering suicide, worried about a friend or family member, or just need to talk or text.
There are options for help when your youth are in crisis, and your family is in need.
The One Kid One CANS workgroup, under the direction of Youth Empowerment Services leadership, has developed a new version of the CANS that will go live on July 1st. Here are some of the highlights of the new version:
- Change the Trauma Domain to a simple yes or no instead of a 4-point rating scale
- Eliminate modules and drop-down items
- Increase the age at which the transition-age youth domain is required from 14 to 16 years old
- Merge items and update some of the language in the caregiver domain to emphasize support for caregivers and de-emphasize any intent to judge or evaluate
- Add an item identifying access to technology to reflect the importance and growth of telehealth options
- Overall reduction of items from a possible total of around 160 to around 90
Magellan is also bringing a new electronic platform, called Opeeka, for providers and families to enter and access the CANS. Opeeka will take the place of the current ICANS system. Please see the Magellan of Idaho website for forums in May and June on the new version of the CANS and the new platform.
Please reach out to the Idaho TCOM team at bhcoetcom@dhw.idaho.gov with any questions. CANS trainers are available to join staff meetings or meet with you to discuss upcoming changes. Office hours are posted on the Idaho TCOM website.
The Division of Behavioral Health will hand over most of its direct services to Magellan Healthcare, Inc. July 1, 2024. Magellan opened its first Idaho office March 12 with an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony.
Officials from the Department of Health and Welfare, the Governor’s Office, and Magellan staff gathered for the open house and ribbon cutting. It was one of many important dates in this massive transition. Idaho signed the new Idaho Behavioral Health Plan (IBHP) contract with Magellan in July of 2023. The new managed care provider will provide coverage for most of the behavioral health services in Idaho. Magellan aims to ‘improve the behavioral health delivery system to promote recovery and resiliency for Idahoans.’
In attendance were Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke, Governor’s Office Policy Advisor Sara Stover, DHW Interim Director Dean Cameron, Deputy Director Miren Unsworth, Medicaid Administrator Juliet Charron, Behavioral Health Administrator Ross Edmunds, and other state officials.
“We’ve been actively working on this contract for three years now,” Edmunds said during the ribbon cutting ceremony. “We feel really privileged to be where we are now in Idaho to be on the verge of such a significant transformation.”
The new IBHP contract will be a single plan administering medically necessary Medicaid and non-Medicaid covered behavioral health services across the state.
Under the contract, Magellan will cover behavioral health services for Idahoans with Medicaid and for some without Medicaid. A number of services historically provided through the Division of Behavioral Health will transition to being Medicaid-covered services and rendered by providers in Magellan’s provider network.
Visit the New IBHP Page at DHW’s website and magellanhealthcare.com for more info.
Listen to the latest episode of the Idaho Behavioral Health Authority Podcast!
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