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Where mission
and heart meet behavioral health, from the very start. |
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Welcome to the February 2025 issue of Prenatal - 5: Grow & Thrive - HCA’s monthly newsletter about our behavioral health work in the early years of life. We hope that this newsletter helps build shared awareness of HCA’s efforts in this area and provides a centralized place to stay up to date on what’s new and happening. |
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HCA is excited to announce the inaugural offering of a brand-new, home-grown training - IECMH/ERH in Washington: Referral & Care Coordination. This interactive workshop was developed as part of the Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Workforce Collaborative (IECMH WC), in response to feedback from the field about the need for more tailored content to support allied professionals in identifying, referring, and coordination around IECMH concerns.
This training is open all professionals whose work supports the families of children birth – age five enrolled in Apple Health (Medicaid). Your feedback about this training will help to inform future developments, and so all are encouraged to attend and engage!
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March 12, 2025 | 9 a.m. to noon | Register
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April 9, 2025 | 9 a.m.to noon | Register
Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), including pregnant and/or parenting women (PPW), may sometimes need to receive treatment at residential treatment facilities. In some cases, children may reside with their parents in these residential treatment facilities. Through surveys and focus groups in 2023 and 2024, PPW residential treatment providers shared with HCA that there was a lack of clarity about Apple Health reimbursement for medically necessary mental health services for these children.
Over the past year, HCA staff reviewed authorizing documents and consulted with subject matter experts. HCA recently released guidance to PPW residential providers that clarifies how to bill for these services and refers to additional resources about infant-early childhood mental health services. This guidance is an exciting example of how collaboration across adult- and child-serving systems can help to promote developmentally appropriate dyadic care for families.
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March 15, 2025 | 9 a.m. to noon | Join a free, in-person community discussion with dads and service providers to
- build on community strengths and spark hope for dads;
- empower fathers to share insights about what works and doesn’t work; and
- learn from dads about how to better serve and reach dads in Grays Harbor County.
Participating dads will get a gift card for sharing their lived experiences. Childcare and Spanish interpretation are available on request.
April 17, 2025 | 2 to 5 p.m. | This training is designed for leadership and administrative staff working in behavioral health systems and agencies. It provides an overview of the Mental Health Assessment for Young Children policy, including the background, approach, and content areas of DC:0-5™ Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC:0-5). Apple Health guidance and concrete strategies for billing, documentation, and overall agency implementation are embedded throughout.
The MHAYC Provider Spotlight series supports providers implement MHAYC at their organizations. Each spotlight will focus on different part of MHAYC process and highlight organizations using it.
April 24, 2025 | 11 a.m. to noon: In this session, providers will share about how they conduct assessments in natural settings, such as in homes, early learning centers, and other community locations.
Want to learn more? Visit HCA’s IECMH webpage to view recordings and slides from past Spotlights.
This 12-hour training is designed to support mental health professionals (MHPs) in developing in-depth knowledge of the approach and content of DC:0-5, understanding the multi-axial system, and utilizing the approach and system in their work with children birth through age five. There are just three more opportunities to attend a DC:0-5 Clinical trainings during this state fiscal year:
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May 5-7, 2025 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day
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May 21-23, 2025 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day
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June 6, 13, and 20, 2025 | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. pm each day
Would you like a streamlined and personable assessment of child and/or family mental health? Toxic stress underlies most mental health diagnoses and exacerbates virtually all of them. This 3-hour, interactive online training will help you better understand the root of the problem by introducing you to the Neuro-Relational Framework’s stress assessments.
This training will be offered twice, with one offering tailored specifically for those who supervise mental health professionals.
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May 6, 2025 | 9 a.m. to noon (tailored specifically for supervisors)
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May 22, 2025 | 9 a.m. to noon
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Welcome to the newest section of our newsletter, Ask the Reader. In this section, you can participate in a Menti poll with other readers. These polls will provide a fun (and anonymous) way to connect with each other.
This month’s Spotlight is about the Access to Baby & Child Dentistry program, so our question is: What is your favorite oral hygiene tool?
To participate, click the link below, which will take you to a Menti poll site. Once you’ve completed the poll, you can click ‘View the Results’ on the next screen to see how other readers voted. Tune in next month to see the final results!
Last months results
Last month we asked: What are 1-3 words to describe your 2024? Here’s what you all shared!
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February is Children's Dental Health Month, a great time to discuss the links between oral hygiene and social-emotional well-being. While it may not be widely understood, there is a clear connection between a person’s dental health and their mental health (APA, 2023). In young children specifically, research shows that poor oral health is associated with delays in speech and language development, as well as school attendance and readiness (Watt et al., 2024)
In Washington state, the Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) program puts young children across Washington state on a lifelong path to good oral health. ABCD connects families of young children on Apple Health with dentists who know how to care for young children, focusing on prevention and avoiding tooth decay, as well as educating parents about how to take good care of their children’s teeth.
Need to find an ABCD Dentist?
Contact your local ABCD program or use ABCD’s online system (DentistLink) to get connected with an ABCD dentist or find dental care for other family members. ABCD also provides helpful tips on taking care of your child’s teeth!
Interested in becoming an ABCD provider?
Participating ABCD dentists receive enhanced fees through Apple Health (Medicaid) for rendering certain preventive and restorative procedures and providing family oral health education. Many are able to build their practices while helping their communities by serving those most in need. The free trainings are just a few hours in length and are delivered in your own practice setting or elsewhere in your community by a local ABCD dental champion.
ABCD Outcomes
ABCD has dramatically increased the number of Apple Health (Medicaid) insured children birth up to six who access dental care over the past two decades. Since 2022, ABCD has expanded its eligibility to also include children 6 through 12 with a Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) indicator. Nationally published research has clearly demonstrated that the early preventive care that ABCD promotes can substantially reduce future dental care costs, and studies have also demonstrated that ABCD is a cost-effective system of care that improves the oral health of Apple Health-insured young children.
“ABCD is a really wonderful program and makes regular family dentists accessible to children in low-income families. I’m so happy that we could stop the decay before it became a bigger problem.” - Cathi, Whatcom County ABCD Parent
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You can find earlier editions of this newsletter on our IECMH webpage, under IECMH updates.
Prenatal – 5: Grow & Thrive is also a spin-off newsletter of HCA’s Prenatal – 25: Thrive newsletter, which focuses on behavioral health for the entire age span of pregnancy to early adulthood. If you missed it, check out the most recent edition of the P-25 Thrive newsletter.
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Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe to get the Prenatal – 5: Grow and Thrive e-newsletter each month.
If you have any questions about this newsletter, please email us.
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