N.C. Child and Family Improvement Initiative: LME/MCOs Make Substantial Investments to Increase Rates for Child Residential Services Across North Carolina

North Carolina’s six Local Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) launched the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative on May 1, 2022, to improve care for children, youth, and families served by the child welfare system. The LME/MCOs are working together to create a statewide system that ensures seamless access to quality care for youth in foster care, regardless of where they live in North Carolina. Nine key objectives were initially identified to support this statewide model.

One of the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative’s primary goals is to enhance statewide capacity for child behavioral health services. To support that goal, the LME/MCOs have identified a tenth objective, which is to increase provider reimbursement rates within this critical service continuum. Ultimately, this tenth objective supports all the objectives of the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative and improves the ability of providers to deliver the necessary treatment and supports to serve youth with very complex needs. All the LME/MCOs are making a significant investment to pay above the current minimum rate established by NCDHHS for several types of child residential services (including Levels I-IV group or family settings) by November 1, 2022.

For Alliance Health, these new residential rates, which are effective November 1, 2022, are listed in the table below. They were included in the FY2023 Provider Rates we posted on September 22, 2022.

In addition, the LME/MCOs have already completed several other goals of their NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative. One of the most important is formalizing a statewide network of child treatment providers to ensure youth in the foster care system have continuity of care when moving from one area of North Carolina to another. Through December 31, 2022, all LME/MCOs are offering an open enrollment period for several types of child behavioral health service providers (including Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF), Level IV, Level III, and Level II group and family) to ensure that children and adolescents can access the services they need. Click here for more details on this development and click here for a listing of the objectives of the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative.