Step I

Get Organized

 

 

Key Activities

1. Determine state’s CSHCN program capacity to commit staff time to support this endeavor
2. Recruit “champions,” i.e., administrators, direct service providers, consumer and family advocates, data analysts, and other key stakeholders
3. Ensure support and interest in achieving the Healthy People 2010 Objective and 6 CSHCN core measures
4. Review state priorities and how they correspond to the CSHCN performance measures   

 

Activity 1: Determine State’s CSHCN Program Capacity to Commit Staff Time to Support This Endeavor

 

The first Activity requires a meeting of CSHCN leaders to review their capacity to implement the Assessment to Action Process. Team leaders should plan on scheduling monthly meetings to implement this process. Data analysts who are familiar with the measurement tools and data bases will be needed to participate in the first 3 steps.

 

 

Activity 2: Recruit “champions,” i.e., Administrators, Direct Service Providers, Consumer and Family Advocates, Data Analysts, and Other Key Stakeholders

 

Activity 2 involves forming a State Leadership Team comprised of stakeholders from the broader system of care. In addition to key stakeholders and project “champions,” the state interagency team should bring together missing representatives who have previously had little direct communication with the state’s CSHCN program.

 

State Leadership Teams consist of the following essential groups of participants:

·        Consumers (Parents, youth with special health care needs)

o       Parents from various cultural groups

o       Representatives from structured parent organizations, e.g., Family Voices

o       Youth with SHCN

·        State-level agency representation (Directors)

o       Medicaid

o       Education

o       Vocational Rehabilitation

o       MCH/Public Health

o       University Centers of Excellence in Disabilities

o       Organized advocacy groups such as Family Voices

·        Community-level providers (physicians, public health nurses)

 

Involvement of families from diverse cultures is critical. Advantages of family involvement include (a) assurance that the data-driven, decision-making system reflects family priorities; (b) assurance that measurement tools are meaningful to families; (c) assistance in interpreting data; and (d) advocacy for long-term use of data findings to improve the system of care for youth with special health care needs are equally important, particularly in addressing measure #6: transition to adult life.

 

Activity 3: Ensure Support and Interest in Achieving the Healthy People 2010 Objectives and 6 CSHCN Core Measures

 

Establish the Vision

 

The Assessment to Action Process is designed to help establish a shared vision in each state by facilitating a review of its state priorities identified in the Title V Block grants, needs assessments, and other state plans. This shared vision helps to ensure that states view M&M as a support for integrating their existing vision rather than as a separate or parallel effort. The Assessment to Action Model strives to ensure “buy-in” from state agencies that are unsure about their role in achieving the six CSHCN measures. The State Leadership Team establishes a collective vision to achieve a comprehensive system of care for CSHCN as defined by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).

 

Activity 4: Review State Priorities and How They Correspond to the CSHCN Performance Measures

 

Prioritize Core Measures

 

The last activity of Step 1 involves prioritizing core measures. During the first meeting, the State Leadership Team reviews their state’s priorities identified in state plans and needs assessments to determine how they correspond to the CSHCN performance measures. 

 

The teams need to be clear about what exactly they are trying to accomplish by implementing the Assessment to Action Process. For example, an organization may decide to collect data to (a) guide program planning and improve services or (b) increase consumer and partner awareness of CSHCN issues and importance of collaboration.

 

Prioritizing core measures allows the State Leadership Team to stay focused on those activities that will move it closer to these goals at the same time meeting their own goals. The state Title V Block Grant can be used to help identify state projects. For example, some states developed state performance measures in their Block Grant that emphasized critical components of the core measures.

 

A sample agenda for an initial meeting to implement Step 1 is provided below:

 

 

Sample Agenda