From 2013 to 2022, and 2024 to the present, TAC has developed and managed technical assistance (TA) and consultation services on behalf of MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid agency, including provider training and coaching, practice guideline development and implementation support, and other workforce development initiatives for community-based children’s behavioral health. This engagement includes managing a network of Massachusetts-based coaches who work with providers of intensive care coordination and/or family support and training to deliver team-based care according to the evidence-based High Fidelity Wraparound model.
On behalf of MassHealth, in 2024 TAC is administering over $3.6 million in ARPA respite dollars in a flexible way, ensuring family-driven, low-threshold access to respite for youth and families in MA. The respite funding was driven by System of Care values, including cultural and linguistic responsiveness; youth and family voice/choice; and community-based services. TAC’s implementation of the program incorporates equitable funding distribution and streamlined administrative processes. TAC also supports the initiative by providing TA and administrative support to participating programs.
Further, TAC has managed and contracted with experts to deliver TA and training on trauma-informed interventions, diversifying the Massachusetts Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative workforce, strengthening culturally responsive, evidence-based clinical practices, and supporting the integration of children’s behavioral health and primary care. TAC collaborated with MassHealth and the Children’s Behavioral Health Knowledge Center at the Department of Mental Health to support the development and dissemination of an In-Home Therapy Practice Profile, which emphasizes collaborative intervention planning, care coordination and collaboration, and transition planning for youth with complex behavioral health needs. Many of the CBHI consultative initiatives that TAC has supported are the result of findings from a comprehensive quality review process that TAC oversaw on behalf of the Commonwealth to identify practice strengths and areas for quality improvement with regard to care coordination services.
