Principles to Guide Allocation of New Revenue The gaps in the regional continuum of care cannot possibly be filled by additional County revenue alone. Structural change which pushes funding decision-making and control to a regional-level governance body is key to long term success.
“ It is impossible to overstate the importance of funding only those programs that
are likely to achieve measurable outcomes, have no other funding source, and will reduce the demand on more expensive crisis services.
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The state is replete with examples of jurisdictions which have raised new revenue to fund behavioral health services and have little to show for it either because outcomes are not tracked, or because funding has been spread so thinly without a strategic purpose. To help focus decision-making, the RSCC recommends that the following principles guide the Council: Investments should be evidencebased and advance desired system change not supported by the current payment structures.
Investments should maximize leveraging of other community resources and align with the proposed Pierce County ACO Pilot and the Data Strategy Collective (discussed below).
Spending and outcomes should be tracked and reported transparently.
Investments should balance the need for immediate service delivery with the need for increased investments in prevention.
The most vulnerable populations should be priority.
Prioritize existing programs that do not have sustainable funding sources.
Focus on improvements best suited to the regional level (as opposed to those that require state- or federal-level investments for meaningful change).
Outcomes Indicative of System Change The RSCC identified the following key system outcomes. These outcomes are measurable and are key proxies to gauge the performance of the overall system of care and the efficacy of new funding:
1 Suicide Rates 2 Emergency Department Utilization Rates 3 Inpatient Recidivism/Readmission Rates: Hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, Evaluation and Treatment Facilities. 4 Jail utilization 5 Youth Emergency Department Admission Rates (from Mary Bridge) 6 Behavioral health referrals received by 2-1-1 in coordination with Family Resource navigators, including the presenting behavioral health symptoms and care needs
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