Fifteen Days And Counting: Philadelphia Children Wait Too Long For Behavioral Health Help

July 15, 2013
Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), a regional child advocacy organization, reviewed wait times for children’s outpatient Medicaid behavioral health services in the City of Philadelphia. PCCY sought to determine the average number of days children waited for a first intake appointment. Pennsylvania state law requires that children receive a first intake appointment within seven days. To do so, PCCY made seven cycles of calls from April 2010 to February 2013 to provider organizations in the non-profit Community Behavioral Health (CBH) network. CBH contracts with the city to provide Medicaid behavioral health services. PCCY . . .