FAQ: Is there Funding for Behavioral Health Services?

Q: I heard there is funding for Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to build capacity to deliver and get reimbursed for school-lined behavioral health services. When’s the deadline to apply?

Yes! You're referring to the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) and School-Linked Partnerships and Capacity Grant Program, both of which have important upcoming deadlines for securing funding.

Please review the requirements and background information below, noting that the final deadline to complete the survey establishing eligibility for the Capacity Grant is August 22, 2024. To secure your access to Capacity Grant funding, charter schools must:

• Complete the LEA Baseline Survey by August 22, 2024 (deadline extended from August 1)
• Reach out to their COE to discuss implementation planning
• Submit an LEA Implementation Plan within 60 days of submission of their COE’s Implementation Plan
• Submit three LEA progress reports (July 31, 2025; Dec. 31, 2025; July 31, 2026)

For additional information about this program, please review the information below:

About CYBHI: The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative is a five-year, $4.6 billion initiative aimed at transforming and improving mental health and substance use support for children, youth, and families across the state. CYBHI includes four key workstreams:

• Workforce Training and Capacity
• Behavioral Health Ecosystem Infrastructure (including the Capacity Grant Program)
• Coverage (including the Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule)
• Public Awareness

About the Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule: The Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule is a new funding mechanism providing sustainable funding for school-linked behavioral health services. It establishes specific provider types and reimbursement rates for Medi-Cal and commercial plans for local educaiton agencies.

About the School Linked Partnerships Capacity Grant Program: The School Linked Partnerships Capacity Grant Program is a $400 million investment to help LEAs utilize the Fee Schedule. Funding is distributed through County Offices of Education to ensure capacity-building across counties. LEAs can use funds for:

• Medi-Cal enrollment
• Service delivery infrastructure and capacity building
• Data collection and documentation
• Billing infrastructure

Counties are responsible for engaging each LEA within the county and submitting a countywide implementation plan by September 30, 2024. County implementation plans may provide for centralized support at the county level, allocating funds to individual LEAs for specific purposes, or a combination thereof. LEAs, including charter schools, that intend to access funds directly must submit an LEA implementation plan within 60 days of submission of the county implementation plan.

Capacity Grant Options for Charter Schools: Charter schools have three (3) options for participating in the Capacity Grant Program:

• Direct Grant Funding: Request the full LEA allocation amount from their COE without delegating funds. NOTE: You do not need to be currently enrolled in Medi-Cal billing to opt-in.
• Blended Funding: Request part of the direct grant funding and delegate a portion to their COE for collective capacity building. NOTE: Medi-Cal billing enrollment is not required.
• Opt-Out of Funding: Do not receive funding but participate in COE consortium supports. NOTE: Opting out now does not preclude future participation in the CYBHI Multi-Payer Fee Schedule, but you may miss out on unique capacity-building opportunities.

Additional resources can be found here:

• Fee Schedule and Capacity Grants Essential Program Components
• Funding Guidance Memo
• Statewide Fee Schedule
• YouTube Playlist of Recorded Webinars
• Implementation Timeline

If you have any questions, please contact Laura Kerr, Legislative and Community Outreach Specialist.