Improving Behavioral Health Care: Building Capacity for State-Level Systems Reforms

The project’s goal is to support state policymakers in developing and implementing strategies for expanding and improving behavioral health services and supports. First, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) team will engage state leaders looking to transform their safety-net behavioral health systems. Opportunities and challenges around improving data and quality measurement processes, exploring value-based payment models, and supporting workforce development will be addressed in phase 1, resulting in the creation of a state roadmap for behavioral health system reform. In the next phase of work, NASHP will host a “policy academy” to provide up to five states with technical assistance to begin implementing the roadmap. The team also will build an online behavioral health resource center that will be made widely available to all state and federal policymakers and stakeholders.