Whitepaper - Thinking Beyond The Funding Cliff: Sustaining Children’s Behavioral Health Services
We’re excited to share the release of the White Paper from our last event, “Thinking Beyond the Funding Cliff: Sustaining Children’s Behavioral Health Services,” hosted by the New England Children’s Behavioral Health Network (NECBHN) on February 12, 2025, at Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island. This report highlights the escalating crisis in children’s behavioral health and offers actionable recommendations to ensure sustainable, family-centered care.
As detailed in the paper, the phase-out of various funding streams, combined with potential Medicaid changes, threatens to create a “funding cliff” that could severely impact access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents. The findings underscore the urgent need for collaborative, innovative solutions to bridge these gaps.
The White Paper reflects insights from thought leaders across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and emphasizes the need for:
Systemic Transformation: Moving beyond fragmented services to integrated governance and data-driven improvement.
Strategic Funding: Leveraging Medicaid waivers, aligning investments with prevention, and maximizing cross-sector savings.
Unified Action: Advancing policies that ensure access and build sustainable, equitable care.
Healthcare providers, schools, social services, juvenile justice systems, and community agencies all play vital roles in the support networks children and families rely on. By working together, we can build a more resilient behavioral health system — one where every child has access to the care they need to thrive.
Please find the White Paper here for your review.
