Medicaid Managed Care for Children in Child Welfare

April 2008 This issue brief, written by Kamala Allen, MHS, of the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc., examines the complex physical and behavioral health care needs and associated costs for children in child welfare and outlines critical opportunities and challenges within Medicaid to better manage care for this high-risk, high-cost population. Children served by a child welfare system are more likely to be involved in multiple child-serving public systems, such as juvenile justice, public mental health, and special education. Lack of formal communication mechanisms among these agencies, Medicaid, and the child welfare agency impedes the ability . . .