CareSource to Advance Innovation with Child Behavioral Health in Ohio

Insurance Provider Forms New Partnership with Child and Family Health Collaborative of Ohio

(DAYTON, Ohio – July 8, 2020) – CareSource, a leading multi-state managed care plan, announced today a strategic partnership with Child and Family Health Collaborative of Ohio to improve the health care of thousands of children who struggle with behavioral health issues. The partnership will invest $100,000 in the statewide children’s behavioral health provider network committed to improving health and social outcomes for children enrolled in CareSource’s Medicaid plan.

“CareSource regularly seeks innovative solutions to empower our members to proactively manage their health and well-being. We know that meeting the behavioral and mental health needs of Ohio’s children will help them develop the resilience and determination we all must have in dealing with life’s challenges,” explained Tia Marcel Moretti, CareSource Ohio Director of Behavioral Health. “Combining forces with Child and Family Health Collaborative of Ohio to support our state’s largest children’s mental health provider network will allow us to explore new, creative ways to achieve better health outcomes.”

CareSource, has a particularly vested interest in caring for Ohio's children with over 1.8 million members in five markets. In Ohio, 51.45% of CareSource Medicaid members are under the age of 18. Through the new partnership, CareSource and the Child and Family Health Collaborative of Ohio will develop and implement a new model of community-based behavioral health care, including enhancement of telehealth services. Telehealth has been essential to keeping children and their caregivers engaged in behavioral health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of the partnership will be on keeping children and their caregivers engaged in behavioral health services during the pandemic and into the 2020 school year. This ongoing engagement will prevent unnecessary out-of-home placement, such as hospitalization, and prompt aftercare when children return home from hospitalization.

“We are eager to improve the health outcomes of the children we serve”, says Mark Mecum, CEO of the Child and Family Health Collaborative of Ohio, and its parent organization, the Ohio Children’s Alliance. “The partnership with CareSource will foster new collaborations between our network and CareSource’s medical experts, community-based workers and Ohio hospitals. We are excited to start this work and to empower kids and families to achieve better health.”  

Since 2017, the Child and Family Health Collaborative of Ohio has advanced value-based care and social services innovation among more than forty community agencies spanning every region of Ohio. Learn more at www.ohiochildrensalliance.org.