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Children and Youth with Special Health Needs News |
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Thank you, local public health partners, for your continued collaboration and work to improve health outcomes for children and youth with special health needs throughout the state of Minnesota.
The purpose of this quarterly newsletter is to bring together information for our partners in local public health in one centralized location. Please look for our next quarterly newsletter in March 2024.
MDH updates
We want to hear from you - MDH strategic plan
MDH is asking for feedback on the draft strategic plan for 2023-2027. MDH is looking for feedback from local and tribal public health, other government partners, grantees, community-based partners, health care partners, partners in academia, and anyone who is interested in how this plan will impact MDH moving forward.
Here are some feedback opportunities:
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Anyone is welcome to participate in an online survey to provide feedback on MDH’s draft Strategic Plan 2023-2027. There is a link in the survey to a copy of the draft plan. The survey can be accessed on the MDH Strategic Plan Feedback Survey page.
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There are several external listening session opportunities, which are based on role or relationship to MDH. Register for MDH Strategic Plan listening sessions (for local/tribal public health).
Thank you for taking time to share your important perspective.
Save the date – CYSHN Local Public Health Conference
Join us for our 2024 CYSHN Local Public Health Annual Conference on April 25 - 26, 2024!
This conference is an opportunity for local public health and tribal health staff that support birth defects monitoring, newborn screening conditions, and follow along programs to connect, learn, and collaborate for a healthier community.
More details, location, and registration information coming soon!
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Staff spotlight
Dana Janowiak joined CYSHN on Nov. 27 as our nurse consultant in the outreach and prevention unit. Dana will be leading local public health work across the section. She is originally from Wisconsin and received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2010. She moved to the Twin Cities in 2014 to complete her doctor of nursing practice degree specializing in public health nursing from the University of Minnesota.
Dana has worked as a public health nurse, clinic nurse, and inpatient nurse. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, 2-year-old son, and a baby daughter due on Jan. 19. They spend their free time at their cabin outside of Ely, which has been in her family for almost 50 years.
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Birth Defects Monitoring and Analysis
January is Birth Defects Awareness Month!
We invite you to incorporate prevention messages in your events and meetings throughout the month.
Please ask your communications team to promote BDAM by customizing your own posts and prevention messages or sharing posts from MDH or the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) on social media:
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Longitudinal Follow Up
Educational webinar series on congenital CMV
MDH and Minnesota Low Incidence Projects are excited to be hosting a 2-part webinar series on congenital CMV. The webinars are designed for practitioners working with and supporting children and their families in educational/childcare settings and other professionals in Minnesota with an interest in congenital CMV.
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The first webinar is Jan. 18, 2024, noon – 1 p.m.
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The second webinar is Feb. 1, 2024, noon – 1 p.m.
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Mental health systems initiatives
This quarter, we are highlighting some mental health systems initiatives currently being implemented. If you have questions about any of the initiatives discussed below, please reach out to Alyssa Greene, CYSHN mental health systems coordinator, at alyssa.greene@state.mn.us.
Early childhood mental health consultation
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MDH is collaborating with DHS to establish an Interagency Agreement. This agreement aims to offer Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation at no cost to local public health agency staff involved in the Follow Along Program and/or CYSHN follow-up. DHS will subcontract with trained early childhood mental health providers to deliver group-based mental health consultation in a regional consultation model.
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We plan to initiate a pilot of the consultation services, conducting monthly meetings in eight regions, serving a total of 80 – 100 LPH staff. These sessions will encompass training, supported skill building, and reflective consultation on specific cases. If the pilot proves successful and interest remains high, we may expand the initiative with additional groups in the future.
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The implementation of the consultation groups is scheduled to begin in Jan. or Feb. 2024. More detailed information regarding scheduling and participation expectations will be shared in the coming weeks!
Minnesota Public Health Access program
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Minnesota was awarded a five-year grant through HRSA in 2021 to implement statewide efforts to improve behavioral health supports for children and youth. The following efforts are being implemented to reach the grant's goals:
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Psychiatric Assistance Line (PAL): PAL is a free service that provides mental health triage, referral, or consultation with a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. In upcoming months, specialists who focus on perinatal mental health, substance use, and eating disorders will be available to provide consultations. The consultation is mostly geared toward primary care providers, but others serving children and youth experiencing mental health concerns can call the line or schedule a consult on the PAL website.
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Capacity building among pediatric primary care providers: MDH is partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics (MN-AAP) to provide quality improvement training opportunities for pediatricians across the state focused on assessing for mental health conditions and promoting clinic safety for LGBTQ+ youth.
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Coordinating centralized resources: MDH has partnered with FastTrackerMN to enhance and promote FastTrackerMN, a centralized website with up-to-date mental health resources for individuals and organizations.
Mental Health Collaboration Hub
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The Mental Health Collaboration Hub (“the Hub”) is a statewide virtual networking center aimed at helping children and youth who are boarding in hospitals and emergency departments get connected to safe living and mental health treatment settings. It is a collaborative center where health care and mental health staff, professionals, and providers can coordinate and network with each other while working to reduce the number of children and youth in boarding situations.
Follow Along Program
Community Connectors grant and Community Engagement team updates
The 'Community Connectors' grant initiative has sparked considerable interest, drawing 25 applications from organizations! The priority for this grant is to provide culturally and linguistically inclusive Follow Along Program outreach and navigation support for families as part of the Healthy Beginnings, Healthy Families Act. The selected grantees will begin their work in Jan. 2024.
Additionally, the Community Engagement Team held its first meeting on Nov. 13, marking a pivotal step toward fostering collaboration and innovation to enhance program accessibility. The team is comprised of staff from local public health, family-serving organizations, state agency partners, childcare, health care, and school districts, as well as families.
Stay tuned for more updates as these initiatives unfold and shape the future of the Follow Along Program!
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Resource Corner
MN StoryCollective
The State of Minnesota has launched MN StoryCollective; a cross-agency story collecting and sensemaking initiative. MN StoryCollective works by sharing the stories collected with state leaders, calling attention to the most pressing needs of our communities and issues that need to be solved.
The stories will help shape and inform how Minnesota improves programs and services for individuals, families, and groups, such as school programming, childcare resources, and others which impact the health and well-being of communities.
Any Minnesotan is welcome to share a story– so we welcome you to tell yours and help us spread the word! We look forward to hearing from you and your community. You can also subscribe to MN StoryCollective updates at the bottom of the MN StoryCollective home page.
MA and MinnesotaCare unwinding
In Spring 2023, congress passed legislation requiring states to return to standard Medicaid eligibility procedures. That means that most Minnesotans enrolled in MA and MinnesotaCare will need to have their eligibility for these programs reviewed through the renewal process. Renewal processes for MA restarted in April 2023, beginning with enrollees who had a July renewal. Renewals for MinnesotaCare coverage restarted in Oct. 2023 for coverage effective Jan. 1, 2024.
MA and MinnesotaCare enrollees receive a renewal form in the mail one to two months before their renewal is due. However, the deadline for submitting renewal paperwork for these specific cohorts was extended:
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Oct. cohort deadline: Dec. 31, 2023
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Nov. cohort deadline: Jan. 31, 2024
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Dec. cohort deadline: Feb. 29, 2024
Please advise enrollees that have not returned their renewal form to do so immediately. Coverage may end sooner than the dates listed for enrollees determined to be no longer eligible. Those who already completed their MA renewal and were determined ineligible for coverage after an eligibility review will still lose coverage on the date indicated on their closing notice. They may be eligible for another program such as MinnesotaCare or a qualified health plan (QHP) through MNsure. There will be no retroactive closures.
Enrollees can visit the renewal page (DHS) to learn when their renewal paperwork is due and get answers to frequently asked questions.
Invoicing
All invoicing is completed according to the following schedules:
Date Work/Training Completed
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Complete Documentation by
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About the CYSHN Newsletter
The Children and Youth with Special Health Needs (CYSHN) Section at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) works to achieve public health policies that will provide more positive health outcomes and better serve children and youth with special health needs and their families throughout Minnesota.
As the Child and Family Health (CFH) Division works to coordinate and collaborate on communication, this newsletter may evolve to include a broader focus but will begin with these CYSHN programs as the primary focus: Birth Defects; Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI); Heritable Conditions (HC); Bloodspot Conditions; Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV); Critical Congenital Heart Defects (CCHD); and Follow Along Program (FAP).
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