California Submits Section 1115 BH-CONNECT Demonstration Addendum To Expand Behavioral Health Community Services

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) plans to amend its Medicaid 1115 waiver for the Behavioral Health Community-Based Organized Networks of Equitable Care and Treatment (BH-CONNECT) demonstration. BH-CONNECT was approved in 2023 to expanded community services for beneficiaries with serious mental health and addiction treatment needs. The amendment further expands the continuum of care for individuals with significant behavioral health needs who are experiencing long stays in an institutional setting, who are homeless or who are at risk of experiencing homelessness, or who need recovery-oriented residential care.

Specifically, California proposes to enable county behavioral . . .