Advocates, hospitals and planners press for funding and data to expand children's crisis care and school-based services

Hartford — Hospital, legal-aid and child-advocacy witnesses told the legislatures Childrens Committee the state should make permanent the expanded hours and funding for childrens mobile crisis teams, improve Medicaid reimbursement and adopt standardized reporting for school-based health centers to better guide policy.

The Center for Childrens Advocacy and other witnesses described a sustained rise in children seeking behavioral-health care in emergency departments and urged the committee to support components of HB 6,951, including a study of the crisis continuum, grants to sustain mobile crisis teams and a standardized data framework for school-based health centers.

"We must build on the recommendations of the Transforming Children's Behavioral Health Planning and Policy Committee," Sarah Egan of the Center for Children's Advocacy told the panel, pointing to multi-year growth in ED behavioral presentations and last years spike in youth suicidal behavior. She outlined figures showing thousands of ED behavioral visits for Medicaid-covered children and overcrowding of hospital EDs for behavioral health reasons.

Why it matters: Multiple witnesses said mobile crisis response teams that provide a clinician-driven face-to-face visit in a home, school or community setting substantially reduce emergency-department presentations and inpatient admissions for children in crisis. Jeff Vander Ploeg of the Child Health and Development Institute said mobile crisis is "the first line of defense" and that expanding 24/7 coverage has measurable savings by diverting inpatient admissions.

What lawmakers heard: Testimony urged three actions: (1) continue funding that expanded mobile crisis capacity so teams operate 24/7 for children across the state; (2) standardize school-based health-center data collection and reporting to the public-health department so officials can measure reach and outcomes; and (3) review Medicaid rates and targeted grants to stabilize the children's behavioral-health workforce.

Numbers & funding: Witnesses said the current ARPA-funded expansion for urgent crisis and mobile services must be replaced with sustainable state funding. A draft appropriation discussed in testimony would replace roughly $8.6 million in ARPA support to continue expanded mobile crisis hours; advocates said insufficient hospital Medicaid rates are a root cause of provider shortages.

Next steps: Supporters asked the committee to authorize the proposed study of the crisis continuum, direct DPH and partners to develop a common reporting framework for school-based health centers, and include ongoing funding for 24/7 mobile crisis coverage. Committee members asked for cost studies and for proposal details about how to run a pilot data platform for school-based centers.