ABCD III State Collaborative Request for Proposals
The National Academy for State Health Policy seeks proposals from state Medicaid agencies to participate in a three-year project to improve state capacity to strengthen linkages between pediatric primary care and providers of assessment and treatment services that address developmental needs. Up to $60,000 will be available per year to each selected state. Selected states will also receive technical assistance, opportunities to exchange expertise and experience with other states, and national recognition of their efforts.
The project, part of The Commonwealth Fund’s Assuring Better Child Health and Development Initiative (ABCD), seeks to improve developmental outcomes and children’s readiness to learn and to prevent the need for more intensive and expensive care at a later age.
The National Academy for State Health Policy is seeking to identify five states that will form a three-year learning collaborative (ABCD III) to make:
- Lasting policy and systems improvements that build and strengthen systemic linkages between PCPs and other child and family service providers to support the healthy development of young children.
- Practice improvements that build and strengthen linkages between PCPs and other child and family service providers, thereby improving the quality of care received by children with or at-risk of developmental delay.
Proposed projects must be led by Medicaid in partnership with key stakeholders, focus primarily on young children (age 0-3) with less intense needs (i.e., many of those a PCP would be likely to identify by using a developmental screening instrument). States may propose projects that include older children or those with more severe needs in addition to this target population. Medicaid agencies must have policies in place that support reliable and systematic identification of children with or at-risk for developmental delay by PCPs—but need not have participated in a previous ABCD project.
The following resources will provide complete information on the project and on how to apply to be a part of the ABCD III Collaborative:
1. The Request for Proposal includes detailed information about the project, the application process and details on submitting the Letter of Intent (LOI). It also outlines the benefits for states selected to participate in the project.
2. A one-page synopsis of the ABCD III Collaborative that can be used as a quick reference for potential partners and stakeholders regarding the ABCD III initiative.
3. Two papers designed to help applicants shape their projects:
a) Improving Care Coordination, Case Management, and Linkages to Service for Young Children: Opportunities for States This report discusses the various roles states can play in facilitating and supporting improved linkages for children and their families and provides areas for action and state examples within each role.
b) State Strategies for Care Coordination, Case Management, and Linkages for Young Children: A Scan of State Medicaid. Title V, And Part C Agencies This report summarizes responses to a survey NASHP conducted in order to better identify and understand what states are doing across variously funded early child health and development agencies to promote better care coordination, case management, and linkages to services for young children. Also, click here to view the raw data collected for this scan.
4. A synopsis of ABCD stakeholder group structures. This resource outlines how ABCD states structured and used private/public partnerships to advance project activities. Applicants may develop their stakeholder groups as best fits their individual state.
5. Project report example. This is an example of a project report from ABCD II. NASHP will develop a similar template for ABCD III.
6. This series of briefs summarize the findings from the ABCD Screening Academy. They highlight models, strategies and approaches used by previous ABCD states implementing structured screening into primary care. Applicants may find it helpful to peruse these briefs and consider similar efforts that have been completed or are underway in their states that support primary care providers’ use of developmental screening instruments as part of well child care. Please include these efforts in the LOI submission.
a) State Policy Improvements that Support Effective Identification of Children At- Risk for Developmental Delay
b) State Strategies that Support Effective Identification of Children At-Risk for Developmental Delay
c) Measurement to Support Effective Identification of Children at Risk for Developmental Delay
7. This report highlights methodologies and opportunities for evaluation measures related to screening children’s social and emotional development, referral, and follow-up care for children identified at risk used by ABCD II states. This resource has been included to help applicants begin to consider how your team will address the evaluative requirements of ABCD III but it is not expected that states need to use the prescribed measures outlined in this report.
8. Additional reports that provide helpful background information on case management/care coordination and linkages that will assist applicants:
a) Beyond Referral: Pediatric care linkages to improve developmental health, (New York, NY: The Commonwealth Fund December, 2006.) (Pub.No. 976).
b) Developing Care Coordination as a Critical Component of a High Performance Pediatric Health Care System: Forging a Multidisciplinary Framework for Pediatric Care Coordination. (In press) The Commonwealth Fund, forthcoming 2009.
9. Guidelines for submission of ABCD III full proposal. NASHP has reviewed the submitted Letters of Intent and selected twelve states to complete a full proposal. These guidelines outline the requirements for submitting the full proposal. Please submit the full proposal by September 1, 2009, no later than 9 am eastern.
Finally, to receive updates and notices of related events please e-mail Ann Cullen, Acullen@nashp.org