The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) has announced that it will offer $25 million in grants to expedite readiness and support the transition to OhioRISE.
Download a PDF Overview Here | Read Newsletter Article Here
Learn More about the OhioRISE Program Here | Visit of the Ohio Medicaid Managed Care Procurement Website Here. | Inquiries can be made to OhioRISE@medicaid.gov.
OhioRISE Transition Grants
ODM’s grants are being made to catalyze our collective work to serve the urgent needs of children who will be eligible for OhioRISE next year, Marisa Weisel, Deputy Director at ODM, shared in an email to Ohio care providers. Two new types of Medicaid providers, Care 
Management Entities (CMEs) and Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) providers, will be offered grant opportunities to support workforce and organizational development so they can serve future OhioRISE enrollees.
These Transition Grants will ensure a strong start for OhioRISE, which is a key component of Governor DeWine’s efforts to better serve the needs of multi-system youth and is vitally important to the overall success of implementing Ohio Medicaid’s Next Generation of Managed Care. The OhioRISE managed care plan, Aetna Better Health of Ohio (Aetna), will administer the OhioRISE Transition Grants in support of the following:
- Launching CMEs and Initiating Care Coordination Services for Priority Populations
OhioRISE is creating a network of Care Management Entities (CMEs) to serve as the locally based “locus of accountability” within 20 catchment areas spanning the state. CMEs will be responsible for delivering care coordination services and engaging in community resource development for children who have complex behavioral health needs within their catchment area. Aetna is soliciting applications to become a CME, and CMEs selected by Aetna will have an opportunity to receive OhioRISE Transition Grants based on their level of need to meet immediate organizational growth in early 2022. For example, CMEs may use grants to quickly establish infrastructure, hire and train staff, develop IT systems, conduct community outreach and engagement activities, and work to understand community resources. CMEs receiving Transition Grants will be expected to begin providing high-fidelity wraparound-based care coordination services to key groups of children before they are able to bill Medicaid for the new OhioRISE care coordination services. Early CME care coordination will target priority populations (e.g. children in custody receiving residential treatment and children living in out-of-state residential treatment facilities) that will greatly benefit from increased coordination of care prior to the OhioRISE go-live date.
Maintaining and Expanding Access to MRSS
ODM will begin covering a new MRSS billable service in July 2022. In recent years, grants from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) helped establish two cohorts of MRSS providers in 31 Ohio counties. OhioRISE Transition Program grant funds will create a bridge and continue state support for these MRSS providers until OhioRISE goes live, as well as provide funding opportunities to stand up a third cohort of MRSS providers in additional counties across the state. Learn More about MRSS Here |
View video sessions from the recent Two-Day MRSS Virtual Conference Here
What’s Next?
ODM and Aetna will communicate about the grant processes and timelines in the coming months. Following grant-making activities, Aetna will actively support the grantees in their start-up work. While building relationships with CME and MRSS providers, Aetna will assist with building the System of Care across the state. ODM and Aetna are deeply committed to providing resources to develop the workforce and infrastructure that is needed to successfully launch the OhioRISE program.
“As the OhioRISE Transition Program moves forward with the support of grant-funding, I want to thank you for the valuable input and feedback you and your teams continue to contribute to the development of OhioRISE,” wrote Deputy Director Weisel. “[Community] partnership[s] not only help ensure a strong and successful startup of OhioRISE, which is vital to the families and children who will be served by the program, but also contributes to the overall success of implementing our Next Generation of Managed Care. We value our partnership and look forward to our collective work ahead to better serve Ohio’s children and youth and their families.”
WraparoundOhio.org is presented by The Center for Innovative Practices | Part of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention
at Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School of Applied Social Services
Campus Location: 11235 Bellflower Road Room 375 | Cleveland, OH 44106
Mailing Address: 10900 Euclid Avenue | Cleveland, OH 44106-7164
Telephone: 216-368-6293 | email: pxm6@case.edu
© 2019 Center for Innovative Practices, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
