On January 24, 2023, Community Integrated Health Services, LLC (CIHS) received a $75,000 grant from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan to help support its School-Based Services and S-TACC™ (School Threat Assessment Care Coordination) programs. On behalf of the children, youth, and families throughout Southwest Washington that will benefit from this grant, CIHS is deeply grateful for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan’s dedication to helping people live healthier lives.

The SCHOOL-BASED SERVICES program embeds mental health professionals in the schools to collaborate with school staff in identifying and meeting emergent behavioral health needs of students. Providing services in the schools eliminates the barrier of students accessing services, reduces the stigma of being seen going to a clinic, and helps address behavioral health issues or conditions that might otherwise result in longer-term problems. In addition to quicker and more consistent access to mental health professionals, CIHS has medical professionals on staff that means a much shorter turnaround time for getting medications. CIHS is funded through Medicaid reimbursement. Some children, youth, and their families are underinsured or uninsured, meaning they don’t have access to assessment and treatment services. Some families have insurance (private or publicly funded like Medicaid) but there are barriers that keep them from accessing services, such as long wait times for appointments and long distances to travel to in-network clinics. The School-Based Services program provides the early detection and intervention to best help children and youth in need, and the grant from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan will allow CIHS staff to provide these much-needed behavioral health services to students who have limited or no other options.

S-TACC™ OR SCHOOL THREAT ASSESSMENT CARE COORDINATION is another student-focused program by CIHS. S-TACC provides that behavioral health monitoring of students during the time they are expelled to the home for a serious and credible threats of violence against the school, school staff, or other students. The school superintendent requests that CIHS monitors the student at home, often with daily visits. This keeps an eye on children and youth who are often unsupervised and unguided at home. CIHS staff reports back to the school’s Safety Team with regular updates on the students’ progress with taking medications, attending treatment sessions, and complying with academic and legal requirements. The goal of the S-TACC™ program is to help students address the behavioral health issues that led to actions resulting in the expulsions and safely returning the students to the school environment. The care coordination activities in S-TACC™ are not covered by Medicaid and the school districts pay for this service. Grant funds will allow CIHS to provide S-TACC™ services at smaller and more rural school districts with limited budgets.

Additionally, CIHS is delighted to announce that a portion of the funds from the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan grant may be used to cover medical expenses and medication evaluations for students in the Southwest Washington area whose families are underinsured or uninsured. This comprehensive canvas of medical and behavioral health services means that students in our communities are able to get the help they need to have healthier lives and healthier futures.