RTC Waiver Program - Research and Evaluation
In collaboration with the Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration, faculty from the University of Maryland are conducting research and evaluation activities to better understand and improve the behavioral health services available to youth and families across Maryland.
Specific activities include:
Determining the characteristics and trajectories of youth enrolled in Maryland’s 1915(c) Waiver with respect to psychosocial indicators, service utilization and cost.
Conducting secondary data analysis to:
- Identify indicators that predict service utilization patterns including disenrollment and re-hospitalization utilizing CASII psychosocial data, Value Options claims data, H01/MA eligibility data; ER visit and IP hospitalization claims data.
- Estimate cost of services among youth enrolled in Maryland’s 1915(c) Waiver, and conduct comparative cost analyses with residential care.
- Evaluate potentially higher-risk subpopulations (e.g., youth with psychotic symptoms; trauma-exposed youth; youth with co-occurring substance use disorders, transition age youth) to understand their characteristics and unique service and cost trajectories.
Conducting assessment of Maryland’s workforce capacity to address the continuum of needs among youth served in the 1915(c) Waiver.
- Conducting comparative analyses between requests on Waiver youth/family Plans of Care and actual services received to determine discrepancies and gaps in provider coverage.
- Conducting geo-mapping activities of provider proximity to 1915(c) youth/family population, determine gaps in coverage in order to inform service array development initiatives.
Conducting workforce development and evaluation activities to study the impact of efforts to enhance the current capacity of Maryland’s community-based mental health workforce to address the unique needs of youth eligible for 1915(c) Waiver enrollment and those at risk of placement in psychiatric and residential facilities.
Study Details & Lead Faculty
- Study 1 - Core Competency Training for Co-occurring Disorders
- Study 2 - Youth with or At-Risk for Psychosis
- Study 3 - School Transition Program
- Study 4 - Training School and Community Mental Health Providers in Research-based Family Engagement Skills
- Study 5 - Maryland Children’s Mental Health EBP Supervisors’ Academy
- Study 6 - Utilizing E-Health Technology to Promote Home- and Community-Based Behavioral Health
- Study 7 – Psychotropic Monitoring for Youth in Child Welfare
- Study 8 – Family Trauma Treatment Solutions
- Study 9 – Standardizing Maryland’s Family Navigator Curriculum