NASHP Behavioral Health Modernization Learning Collaborative: Building State Capacity to Advance Access to High Quality Behavioral Health Interventions
Request for Applications — Due November 28, 2022
The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) is seeking state applications to participate in its Behavioral Health Modernization State Learning Collaborative. This learning opportunity will include up to five teams of state officials in a twelve-month project to support transformation of the behavioral health systems in their states. Work can focus on children and youth or adults under age 65 who are at risk of, accessing, or in need of behavioral health services and supports.
NASHP proposes to support state leaders in their behavioral health system modernization efforts by leveraging a state-driven policy framework and companion resource, providing direct technical assistance to each participating state, and hosting in-person and virtual convenings with participating states and national, state, and local experts. The learning collaborative will help states advance their own project-specific goals by offering strategies for improving and modernizing state behavioral health systems in one or more of the following domains:
- Increasing access to integrated care
- Including state policy, payment and delivery approaches and strategies to incentivize best practices
- Workforce and provider capacity building approaches
- Building the community-based continuum of care
- Including: cross-sector alignment and braided funding approaches (across Medicaid, behavioral health and human services programs)
- Assessing and building the crisis response continuum and linkage to community-based services and recovery supports
State team work in the proposed project may complement (and not duplicate or detract from) ongoing work in the state.
What Will States Gain during the Learning Collaborative?
Each state team will receive technical support during a 12-month period starting in December 2022. The learning collaborative will provide state leaders with opportunities for peer-to-peer discussion, targeted support on their state policy goals, and access to national expertise. NASHP staff will work with selected states to:
- Develop and execute a state workplan to achieve project-specific goals within the context of each participating state’s unique policy environment,
- Learn from national, state, and local experts and engage in regular peer-to-peer exchange, and
- Receive technical assistance through routine calls and written resources that will populate a state-driven toolkit with best practice considerations, model policies, state examples, and concrete resources to advance project goals.
At the end of the collaborative, state teams will have made tangible progress in advancing modernization of their state behavioral health systems.
State Team Composition
State teams will be composed of 4-7 members and include decision makers from multiple agencies, governors’ senior advisors, and/or legislative committee leadership with relevant authority over policies affecting system reforms for the selected population. All teams will have decision makers in Medicaid and behavioral health. Other team members will vary according to state-specific goals and may include data leads and representatives from insurance, public health, corrections, education, child welfare, or other human and social service agencies, and could include county or local officials in decentralized states.
Participating state teams will engage in the following activities:
- A virtual kickoff convening
- Development of a state-specific strategic work plan to guide each state team’s work during the collaborative
- An in-person convening to exchange information on progress, technical assistance priorities, and targeted discussion of common themes (with expert input)
- Monthly technical assistance calls with NASHP staff to facilitate cross-sector execution of the workplan
- Multi-state webinars and calls with national, state, and local experts as common TA themes and opportunities arise
- A wrap up (virtual) convening in which state teams share progress on their strategic work plans and receive technical support to complete plan execution
To Apply
To apply to NASHP’s State Learning Collaborative on Behavioral Health Modernization, please complete this brief application (Word document). Applications should be emailed to Josh Rohrer (jrohrer@oldsite.nashp.org) by close of business on November 28, 2022.
More Information: Any questions about the learning collaborative application process should be directed to Josh Rohrer (jrohrer@oldsite.nashp.org)
About NASHP
NASHP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with over three decades of experience in helping state policy makers lead. NASHP provides expertise, convenes states, shares innovations and best practices, and supports state policymakers in making concrete and sustainable health system reform. For more information, visit NASHP’s website at www.oldsite.nashp.org.
The Behavioral Health Modernization State Learning Collaborative is supported by the Commonwealth Fund.
FAQs
How will technical support be provided to state teams?
Over the 12 months of this learning collaborative, selected state teams will have regular access to NASHP staff and national experts through state-specific and Collaborative-wide technical support. NASHP is planning for a mix of in-person and virtual technical support opportunities, provided that travel is possible. These opportunities include virtual and in-person convenings with participating state teams and national, state and local experts, development of a workplan to achieve goals, monthly technical assistance support, and as-needed expert consultation.
How many hours of technical support can a state receive?
The amount of technical support each state receives will vary according to state need and state engagement in the project and will be described and agreed upon based on the state’s action plan. Virtual TA support will be provided at least monthly, and each team will have ongoing access to NASHP staff who can provide technical support or connect teams with leading states and national experts in response to identified needs.
How will experts be identified to provide technical assistance?
In addition to NASHP’s extensive policy expertise and understanding of states’ needs, NASHP has partnered and/or worked with a broad range of state and national experts on diverse issues. Based on the needs of selected states, NASHP will draw from these extensive contacts to bring expertise to participating states on a limited basis. In addition, NASHP will engage behavioral health experts on an ongoing basis to support team consultation and complement NASHP’s own knowledge base and enhance the capacity of the team to address and anticipate state issues.
What is an example of a similar project NASHP has undertaken? How did that project turn out?
States accomplish meaningful policy change through long-term, sustained effort. Throughout its over thirty-year history, similar NASHP projects have helped states achieve concrete and meaningful milestones on the path to policy change, such as:
- Passage of state legislation or regulatory changes related to health policy
- Braided funding approaches for cross-sector solutions to complex policy issues
- Cross-agency alignment toward common goals
- Implementation of Medicaid strategies to support policy goals (e.g., State plan amendment and waiver approval)
- Implement multi-payer strategies and value-based payment approaches
- Improved use of data for state policy decision-making
- Identification and removal of administrative and regulatory barriers
Is there an evaluation component to this learning collaborative? Will there be a public report out after completion of the learning collaborative?
While state outcomes will not be evaluated, NASHP will develop public reports and issue briefs to share best practices and promising policy strategies learned from states participating in the learning collaborative. A toolkit on Behavioral Health Modernization will also be developed and distributed using best practices and lessons learned from the collaborative.
Eligibility
If my state is already receiving resources through and/or participating in a related federal initiative, are we still eligible to apply for this learning collaborative?
NASHP’s learning collaborative is open to all states that are committed to building capacity and improving cross-sector alignment, coordination, and collaboration in modernizing their behavioral health systems. With the urgency around addressing mental health and substance misuse crises, states are leveraging federal resources, bolstering state and local governmental partnerships and pursuing strategies with non-governmental partners to build capacity for a modern delivery and support system. This learning collaborative is intended to complement and build on existing behavioral health modernization efforts by aligning with those existing initiatives and bringing additional resources to states to achieve modernization goals.
Is NASHP looking for a specific type of project in a state’s application?
NASHP is not looking for a specific type of project, although states may be selected based on common themes that emerge across state applications. NASHP will support state teams with defining goals and developing a strategic plan, and provide individual and group technical support, guided by an analysis of existing state behavioral health infrastructure, state health priorities, and opportunities.
Project areas or focuses may include developing cross-agency/cross-sector governance structures aligned around common goals, braiding resources from various funding streams, improving information exchange with key partners, and effectively engaging communities in policy development and implementation. Common themes in the modernization work include: integrated care approaches, payment and delivery reforms (and braided funding approaches) to increase access to best practice interventions, expansion of the outpatient continuum of services and supports, workforce development, and parity. This may also include strategies for strengthening collaboration between behavioral health agencies and Medicaid programs to improve health outcomes, as well as engaging with departments of insurance (to bring multi- or all-payer approaches) and healthcare system partners to expand access to care and/or develop targeted interventions on key public and/or behavioral health goals.
In my state, we are at the beginning stage of thinking about behavioral health transformation. Can we still apply?
Yes, states are encouraged to apply regardless of the extent to which the state has previously implemented efforts to identify statewide behavioral health priorities and align stakeholder efforts on implementation. With each state’s unique behavioral health and healthcare infrastructure, NASHP understands that strategies may look very different across states. State activities may focus on initiative-specific components of modernizing their systems or take a comprehensive approach. Resources and technical assistance support will be tailored accordingly.
Team Composition
If a Medicaid or behavioral health agency representative is unable to participate in the learning collaborative, can another non-state professional participate on their behalf?
No, participation from senior Medicaid and behavioral health agency and/or division officials with decision-making authority is critical to represent state views and provide connection to those agencies needed to facilitate policy and programmatic change.
Are you requiring the Medicaid and/or behavioral health agency director to participate?
No; however, NASHP is looking for participation from state officials in a leadership position, with decision-making authority, who can represent the views of these agencies.
Does the team lead need to be a Medicaid or behavioral health agency or division official? What are the responsibilities of the state team lead?
While participation from senior leadership is required, the team lead does not need to be the senior leadership member from Medicaid or the behavioral health agency or division. The team lead may be another state official represented on the team. The team leader will serve as the primary point of contact between NASHP staff and your state team. This person will coordinate team requests and responses and should be someone who is familiar with and active in the state project and goals.
Will more than one team from a state be selected to participate?
NASHP will only select one team from any given state.
Application
Does the application have a page or word limit?
The application does not have a page or word limit; however, the intent of the application process is not to be overly burdensome to the state. NASHP encourages interested state teams to answer the questions briefly, but with sufficient information to assess your state’s initiative against the criteria listed on the Request for Applications.
How competitive will the application process be?
NASHP anticipates a robust set of applicants but encourages anyone interested and eligible to apply. NASHP will consider each application carefully and will ultimately select those applicants whose applications best align with the guidelines outlined in the RFA. The Behavioral Health Modernization State Learning Collaborative is supported by the Commonwealth Fund.
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