10 FOSTER INNOVATION KNOWLEDGE SUMMARY: WOMEN’S & CHILDREN’S HEALTH 2010
Expand opportunities for early identification. To help identify infants and toddlers at
risk of social, emotional and behavioral health problems and enable providers to deliver
effective interventions, policymakers can support regular developmental screenings and
early assessments at well-child pediatrician visits. State legislators can work to ensure the
standardized use of reliable screening tools by directing state agencies and their
contractors/vendors to use such tools and requiring insurance, HMO and Medicaid
contracts to include coverage for developmental and behavioral health screenings, for
example. As a result of a class action lawsuit, Massachusetts reconstructed its Medicaid
behavioral health care system for...