Connecticut’s Behavioral Health Plan for Children provides a blueprint to ensure that the state’s behavioral health system and its services promote well-being and meet the mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs for all children in our state.
The Behavioral Health Plan for Children was created following the tragedy in Newtown as a comprehensive plan that looks across agency and policy areas to promote healthy development for all of our state’s children. Finalized in October 2014, the Plan has since guided the State’s work to improve children’s behavioral health systems.
Development and Implementation
The Behavioral Health Plan for Children was informed by input from many diverse families, service providers, and stakeholders at open forums, facilitated discussions, and community conversations held across the state. Information and links to activities used to collect input are found in Archived Work below.
Implementation of the plan is overseen by the Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board, appointed by DCF, and led by three tri-chairs. The recommendations from three Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Workgroups are reviewed by the Advisory Board and inform its annual progress reports to the Connecticut General Assembly.
Plan Highlights
The plan provides an overview of the behavioral health services and supports for children in Connecticut and identified seven areas of focus to improve the children’s behavioral health service system in Connecticut:
In order to implement a system of care throughout Connecticut, system re-organization is needed that includes the integration of public funding, the creation of a Care Management Entity to streamline access and management of services, addressing areas of concern related to commercial (private) insurance; and creating an integrated data structure across the system of care.
Promotion, prevention and early intervention strategies are key elements of supporting healthy children. The Plan recommends implementing promotion and prevention models across all age groups and settings, providing consistent screening for behavioral concerns, ensuring families and service providers are equipped with knowledge of behavioral health, trauma, and serious mental illness, and developing effective programs focused on trauma-informed care and suicide prevention.
As Connecticut continues to invest and strengthen existing elements of the comprehensive service array, the Plan calls for specific investment and strengthening of the following areas:
- early childhood interventions;
- non-traditional/non-clinical services (i.e., faith-based services, peer support, after-school support, respite care);
- care coordination, and behavioral health treatment;
- expansion of mobile crisis services to avoid emergency room use;
- and expanding school-based efforts to address mental and behavioral health within school settings.
Pediatric primary care is a unique setting that provides opportunities for identifying the needs of children with behavioral health concerns.Primary care and behavioral health providers can also be better integrated through a variety of strategies, such as: co-location of services, educational programs for pediatric primary care, and more.
To eliminate disparities in access, quality, and outcomes of care, the Plan recommends implementing and sustaining standards for culturally appropriate care, in accordance with the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS), as well as widening the availability of services that are culturally responsive.
Engaging family and youth as full partners is critical in developing and implementing a children’s behavioral health system. This includes developing the capacity of family members and youth to be equipped in advocating for system change and including family members and youth with lived experience in the governance and oversight of the behavioral health system.
Workforce is an essential component woven throughout the Plan, including at least 16 strategies that have clear workforce implications. The Plan calls for broadening the conception of who is part of the behavioral health workforce, and developing a workforce subcommittee within the governance structure to develop a more comprehensive approach to expanding, training, and supporting the workforce.
Plan Evolution
Since the creation of the Plan in 2014, elements of the seven key areas have expanded and evolved to reflect current needs – particularly as related to health equity, family engagement, and prevention of serious mental illness. The Connecting to Care initiative strives to implement an integrated network of care that addresses the expanded areas of the Behavioral Health Plan for Children by:
The initial Plan focuses on the importance of cultural responsiveness and implementing the National CLAS Standards in children’s behavioral health services. Connecting to Care has emphasized the importance of the National CLAS Standards in helping to address racial injustice and ultimately eliminate health disparities in children’s behavioral health.
While the Plan outlines that all professions must be adequately trained to support children’s behavioral health, there was a subsequent realization that families must be seen as full partners in their own service delivery as well as system change. Thus, workforce development has grown to incorporate training service providers to embrace families as full partners, as well as training and mentoring youth and families about how to share their experiences to inform changes to the children’s behavioral health systems.
In addition to better preventing and identifying potential behavioral health concerns for all children, a service gap for the early detection and treatment for psychosis has continued to be a prominent issue across both the children’s and adult behavioral health system. As a result, there has been an emerging focus to transform access, care quality, and outcomes for individuals and families impacted by recent onset psychosis.
Plan Implementation Advisory Board
Led by three Tri-Chairs, the Children’s Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board collaborates to monitor implementation, reports annually to the General Assembly, provides recommendations to improve the children’s behavioral health system, and oversees workgroups.
Implementation Advisory Board Tri-Chairs* and Members:
Ann Smith *
Executive Director
AFCAMP
Carl Schiessl *
Senior Director, Regulatory Advocacy
CT Hospital Association
Elisabeth Cannata *
Vice President Community Based Family Services and Practice Innovation
Wheeler Clinic
*Tri-Chairs
State Commissioners and Executives
Vannessa Dorantes
Commissioner
Department of Children and Families
Jordan A. Scheff
Commissioner
Department of Development Disabilities
Deidre S. Gifford
Commissioner
Department of Social Services
Manisha Juthani
Commissioner
Department of Public Health
Nancy Navarretta
Commissioner
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Andrew Mais
Commissioner
CT Insurance Department
Charlene Russell-Tucker
Commissioner
State Department of Education
Beth Bye
Commissioner
Office of Early Childhood
Sarah Eagan
Child Advocate
Office of the Child Advocate
Ted Doolittle
Healthcare Advocate
Office of Healthcare Advocate
Gary A. Roberge
Executive Director
Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division
Steve Hernandez
Executive Director
Commission Women, Children and Seniors
State Commissioners and Executives Designees/Representatives
Michael Williams
Deputy Commissioner
Department of Children and Families
JoShonda Guerrier
Deputy Commissioner
Department of Children and Families
Tim Marshall
Deputy Commissioner
Department of Children and Families
Kathryn Rock-Burns
Department of Development Disabilities
Tammy Venenga
Department of Development Disabilities
Joshua Scalora
Department of Development Disabilities
William Halsey
Department of Social Services
Ann Gionet
Department of Public Health
Mark Keenan
Department of Public Health
Amy Marracino
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Colleen Harrington
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Karin Haberlin
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
Gerard O’Sullivan
CT Insurance Department
John Frassinelli
State Department of Education
Scott Newgass
State Department of Education
Mickey Kramer
Office of Early Childhood
Valerie Wyzykowski
Office of the Healthcare Advocate
Catherine Foley-Geib
Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division
Tom Kocienda
Department of Corrections
Advisory Board Community Representatives
Tiffany Donelson
President & CEO
Connecticut Health Foundation
Tanya Barrett
Sr. Vice President
211 Health and Human Services United Way of CT
Elisabeth Cannata *
Vice President Community Based Family Services and Practice Innovation
Wheeler Clinic
Kendell Coker
Assistant Professor/Advocate
University of New Haven, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice & Forensic Sciences
Brunilda Ferraj
Senior Public Policy Specialist
Connecticut Community Provider’s Association
Alice Forrester
CEO
Clifford Beers Clinic
Hector Glynn, MSW
Vice President- Outpatient & Community Services
The Village for Families & Children
Susan Graham
Family Member
Grace Grinnell
Family Member
Doriana Vicedomini
Family Member
Carol Poehnert
Family Member
Beresford Wilson
Executive Director
FAVOR
Steve Korn
Medical Director
Anthem
Steve Rogers
Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
Carl Schiessl *
Senior Director, Regulatory Advocacy
CT Hospital Association
Lauren Ruth
Research and Policy Director
Connecticut Voices for Children
Ann Smith *
Executive Director
AFCAMP
Lori Szczygiel
CEO Beacon Health Options Connecticut
Beacon Health Options
Andrea Goetz
Beacon Health Options Representative
Beacon Health Options
Robert Plant
Beacon Health Options Representative
Beacon Health Options
Chris Bory
Beacon Health Options Representative
Beacon Health Options
Jeff Vanderploeg
CEO
Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut
Laurie Collins
School Based Health
CT Association of School Based Health Centers
Erica Bromley
Youth Service Bureau Association
Supporting Legislators
Liz Linehan
Co-Chair Children’s Committee
103rd District
Saud Anwar
Co-Chair Children’s Committee
Senate District 3
Henri Martin
Ranking Member Children’s Committee
Senate District 31
Anne Dauphinais
Ranking Member Children’s Committee
44th District
Mary Welander
Vice Chair Children’s Committee
114th District
Catherine A. Osten
Co-Chair Appropriations
Senate District 19
Toni E. Walker
Co-Chair Appropriations
93rd District
Craig Minor
Ranking Member Appropriations
Senate District 30
Mike France
Ranking Member Appropriations
42nd District
Mary Daugherty Abrams
Co-Chair Public Health Committee
Senate District 13
Jonathan Steinberg
Co-Chair Public Health Committee
136th District
Tony Hwang
Ranking Member Public Health Committee
Senate District 28
Heather Somers
Ranking Member Public Health Committee
Senate District 18
William Petit
Ranking Member Public Health Committee
22nd District
Catherine F. Abercrombie
Co-Chair Human Services Committee
83rd District
Marilyn V. Moore
Co-Chair Human Services Committee
Senate District 22
Eric C. Berthel
Ranking Member Human Services Committee
Senate District 32
Jay M. Case
Ranking Member Human Services Committee
63rd District
Matthew L. Lesser
Vice Chair Human Services Committee
Senate District 9
Jane M. Garibay
Vice Chair Human Services Committee
60th District
Whit Betts
Representative
78th District
Final Plan
The final Connecticut Behavioral Health Plan
The final Connecticut Behavioral Health Plan for Children was submitted to the Legislature by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families on October 1, 2014.
Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Workgroups
Past Workgroups
Annual Progress Reports
The Children’s Behavioral Health Implementation Advisory Board submits reports to the Connecticut General Assembly annually on October 1. These reports provide summary of progress to date related to ongoing activities related to the promotion, prevention, identification, and treatment of children’s behavioral health across the state. The Implementation Advisory Board also provides additional recommendations and supplemental documents as needed to the General Assembly and system partners.
Archived Work
The development of Connecticut’s Behavioral Health Plan for Children was an important and inclusive process in developing the blueprint for our state’s behavioral health system. The Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI) collaborated with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families to gather input and develop the Plan with philanthropic support from the Connecticut Health Foundation, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut, and the Grossman Family Foundation. Connecticut DCF submitted the final Plan to the Connecticut General Assembly in 2014. Below are links to some of the activities used to collect input that informed the development of the final Plan: