Together at the Table is a HMG Blog series that highlights the crucial role of conversations that bring partners together to advance our collective work. Regardless of what organization, program, or initiative we each represent, we can all agree: there is a reason for everyone to be together at the table. When we share our values, knowledge capital, our successes and failures, we accelerate change. Incremental efforts can become transformation.

If you happened to miss our most recent blog post, Dr. Dworkin and I had the privilege of presenting at MCHB’s Home Visiting and Early Childhood Grand Rounds in October 2018. We were, of course, delighted to have the opportunity to share some priorities on behalf of the HMG National Affiliate Network to a vast audience, including those at a number of federal agencies.

What we hadn’t known to anticipate, however, was an exciting conversation during the question and answer portion of the discussion, that would ultimately prove to precede an exciting new opportunity for the National Center and affiliates across the Network.

During Q&A, representatives from Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) spoke up to support the notion that the Help Me Grow model is systems framework for states to leverage when thinking how best to build an integrated system that can support child health services transformation.

We were heartened to hear those statements from individuals involved in the new Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model, which is, ‘is a child-centered local service delivery and state payment model that aims to reduce expenditures and improve the quality of care for children under 21 years of age covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through prevention, early identification, and treatment of behavioral and physical health needs,’ according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center.

Here at the National Center, we couldn’t agree more that Help Me Grow systems provide an optimal foundation for which to consider cutting edge approaches to modernize and advance children’s health services. To fully articulate our thoughts, the National Center has released a brief overview of the InCK opportunity and the relevance of InCK to Help Me Grow.

We invite you to take a look at that overview in preparation to then join our upcoming webinar on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 1:00 – 2:30 pm EST, Advancing Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) in Medicaid and CHIP.

In partnership with Charles Bruner, resource manager of the InCK Marks Resource Network supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Perigee Fund, the webinar will describe opportunities for Help Me Grow affiliates to influence their states in advancing preventive and developmental child health services under Medicaid and CHIP.

We are thrilled to announce that the Help Me Grow National has joined the consultant collaborative, InCK Marks, led by Charles Bruner and in partnership with The National Center for Children in Poverty, The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ), The Child and Adolescent Health Initiative, American Academy of Pediatrics, Nemours, Family Voices USA, Healthy Steps, The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, The Center for the Study of Social Policy, Mental Health American and more to provide Resources to Support States in Developing Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Models.

Join us on February 19 for the webinar, where we will share more about what our role will look like in the InCK Marks consultant collaborative, how we envision the many possibilities for HMG affiliates to play integral roles in this new national initiative, and how the National Center may serve as a resource to your state and local efforts to approach the InCK opportunity.

If your state has already done some thinking around application for the InCK opportunity or you have thoughts on the role of HMG in your state or across the nation, please feel encouraged to reach out to me personally and connect.