LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Department of Human Services announced four new pilot programs aimed at serving children in need.
Helping children struggling with mental and behavioral health as early as they can is the goal of new pilot programs through the DHS.
Melissa Weatherton, director of Medicaid Specialty Populations, says these four programs are preventative pilot programs hoping to meet the needs of children and families sooner rather than later.
“We’re getting these kids too late,” Weatherton said. “There’s no magic fix for this, right, we have to catch this earlier and get in and help these families so that they don’t have to go to these places.”
The four programs are:
- Comprehensive Screening and Assessment for Children, CSA
- Family Centered Treatment Program (FCT)
- Families in Transitions Teams (FiTT)
- Prevention, Stabilization, and Support Project for Young Children (PSSP-YC)
The prevention aspect is hoping to help children and families before they get to the point of going to state hospitals or psychiatric residential facilities.
Weatherton said the programs will serve children who are Medicaid recipients.
The funding for these programs is around $200 million that came from the American Rescue Plan, but it has an expiration date.
“For the four you saw today, we have to expend the funding by March 31st of 2025,” Weatherton said.
Weatherton said they’re planning on doing what they can through these prevention pilot programs in hopes of being able to fund them long-term.
“If we can keep people out of those kind of high-cost facilities, we’ll be more than able to fund these prevention programs,” Weatherton said.
More information can be found at HumanServices.Arkansas.gov.
