The Support Families Need

Every parent can use a little help, but having a child with serious medical or emotional / behavioral challenges requires even more assistance. Even the most resourced families can feel overwhelmed as they attempt to navigate multiple systems of care to ensure that they are finding the services that will most help their child.

Care Management Services are the helping hand for families that need it most. We help parents and caregivers manage the many challenges they face each day – from finding the right specialist for their child, to ensuring transportation for appointments, to coordinating medication management with schools, to name a few. Most importantly, we assist families with negotiating the many moving parts of multiple systems to make sure the systems work together in a comprehensive manner with shared goals tailored to each child’s needs. Through this holistic approach that includes the whole family and brings multiple service providers to the table, children with various health and mental health needs can thrive and grow.

A Comprehensive Approach to Health

Being healthy is about more than physical health. Children need a host of supports – a healthy diet, a safe home, an appropriate educational setting – to truly be healthy. Our Care Management services, make certain all those needs are met. We help qualifying Medicaid-eligible families make sure their children receive the whole range of care and services they need. Thanks to this support, children demonstrate improved health outcomes and a reduction in hospitalizations – and families experience less stress.

Each child is assigned a Care Coordinator, who makes sure families have the services they need:

• Appointments with healthcare providers (such as doctors, nurses, nutritionists, counseling, and mental health and substance abuse services)
• Access to appropriate medications
• Insurance to pay for a child’s care
• Transportation to your appointments
• Connections community providers for social services
• Help with housing services
• Support from their child’s school
• And much more

Care Coordinators continually communicate and share information with families/caregivers from providers in ways that are meaningful to them, sometimes acting as translators. Our services also ensure care during transitions from inpatient to other settings and promote ongoing medical and behavioral care to prevent crisis. Ultimately, we focus on securing the long term success for every child and his/her family.

Who Qualifies for Care Management Services?

Care Management services are available to Medicaid-eligible children in New York State with one or more qualifying conditions. All children within a family who meet these criteria are eligible, and children can qualify even if they are enrolled in other services, such as mental health, prevention, or foster care.

To qualify, a child must be eligible for Medicaid and have one single qualifying condition or two or more chronic medical conditions.

Single qualifying conditions include:

• HIV
• Serious Emotional Disturbance or Complex Trauma

(Serious Emotional Disturbance is often indicated by a child’s inability to learn or develop or maintain relationships with others, while Complex Trauma is common among youth who have been victim of or witness to abuse, neglect, violence in the home or the community, or who have been displaced from their homes or had parent figures removed from their lives)

Chronic medical conditions include:

• Diabetes
• Asthma
• Obesity and Metabolic Diseases
• Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases
• Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder
• Depression
• Most Mental Health, Personality, and Psychiatric Disorders and Diseases
• Eating Disorders
• Alcohol and Substance Abuse Disorder
• Recurring Health Issues

To see a complete list of qualifying conditions, visit the New York State Medicaid Health Home page here.

Leake & Watts provides Care Management services as a member of the Collaborative for Children and Families Health Home, a consortium of 31 agencies throughout the New York City area.