CHCS was the coordinating entity for a five-year, three-state project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) Quality Demonstration grant program. The grant provided funding and technical assistance to support Maryland, Georgia, and Wyoming in developing a Care Management Entity (CME) approach to improving quality and reducing costs for high-utilizing Medicaid- and CHIP-enrolled children with serious behavioral health challenges.

CHCS led the project’s Quality Improvement Collaborative, through which the states tested, implemented, and/or expanded their use of the CME model. CMEs incorporate health information technology, high-quality wraparound, intensive care coordination, family and youth peer specialists, and financing strategies that coordinate Medicaid and other funding streams. The state demonstration projects were part of a national evaluation to assess the impact of the programs on the quality of health care for children.