June 20th, 2017 by WCBC Radio
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced today that it has released its Request for Applications and Frequently Asked Questions for the State’s Home Visiting Services pilot program. The pilot is part of the larger Maryland Medicaid §1115 Waiver renewal for the HealthChoice program, which was renewed for a five-year term on January 1, 2017.
The department will hold a webinar on June 21, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. to provide further guidance in completing the request for applications. Individuals may register for the webinar here.
“We are pleased to have an opportunity to assist Maryland communities in expanding evidence-based maternal and child health home visiting services through our Medicaid waiver. The Home Visiting Services pilot offers proven program models to address many social determinants of health for vulnerable moms and babies, with the goals being to improve birth outcomes and to strengthen child growth and development in Maryland,” said Health Care Financing Deputy Secretary Shannon McMahon, the state’s Medicaid director. “Essential to our success in achieving final Federal approval for the Home Visiting Services pilot was the Department’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s experience and collaboration with the Medicaid program. The bureau will continue to partner with Medicaid to provide its technical expertise in home visiting evidence-based models, programming and services throughout the duration of the pilot.”
The pilot is designed to provide evidence-based home visiting services for high-risk pregnant women and for children up to age 2. The department, which houses Maryland’s Medicaid program, has selected two evidence-based programs that will be used for the pilot: Nurse Family Partnership and Healthy Families America. Home Visiting Services pilot applicants will be required to choose one of these two programs when designing their home visiting service plan.
Up to $5.4 million will be available through the Home Visiting Services pilot annually, utilizing a combination of local funding and $2.7 million in matching federal funds. Applicants’ funding assumptions will be derived from a “per home visit services rate” developed and proposed by the Lead Entity. To participate, prospective Pilot applicants must be led by a local governmental entity (or lead entity), such as a local health department or local management board, that can fund 50 percent of pilot costs with eligible local dollars through an intergovernmental transfer process. Lead entities also will be responsible for providing leadership and coordination with key community partners, called participating entities, to ensure appropriate implementation of the pilot and administration of services. As a condition of funding, Home Visiting Services pilot participants will be required to regularly report on performance measures and to share data with the department for evaluation purposes.
Lead entities for the Home Visiting Services pilot must apply by 5 p.m., July 21, 2017. The department will review and will approve applications using the Application Selection Criteria contained in the request for applications. Applicants seeking technical assistance should consult the frequently asked questions, which will be updated periodically as the department receives future inquiries.
For further information and a complete list of pilot resources, please visit the department’s Community Health Pilots website or email mdh.healthchoicerenewal@maryland.gov.
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