Innovative health services focus on aiding members without housing, with substance abuse disorders and other social conditions that prevent improved health
SANTA BARBARA — Seeking to improve the Medi-Cal program for people with complex health needs and facing challenging life circumstances, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) established Community Supports – cost-effective services focused on providing assistance beyond traditional medical care. CenCal Health, the locally governed Medi-Cal health plan for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, currently offers members 10 Community Supports. Community Supports, offered through community partners, support members with health issues that are often caused or made worse by economic and social conditions, such as lack of food, housing, transportation and other non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. The goal of Community Supports is to help vulnerable members live healthier lives while reducing medical costs.
The latest four Community Supports now available to CenCal Health members are:
Day Habilitation
This support assists members currently or previously experiencing homelessness with training and help to develop or improve life skills they need to live successfully.
Short-term Post-Hospitalization Housing
This support helps individuals experiencing homelessness and with significant medical or behavioral health needs to continue their recovery after leaving a care or treatment facility.
Respite Services
This support is provided to members’ caregivers on a short-term basis if the caregiver must be absent or needs relief. Services can include light cleaning, cooking, laundry services, and rest.
Personal Care and Homemaker Services
This program supports members needing help with daily activities to live independently, like eating, personal hygiene, meal prep, etc., similar to In-Home Supportive Services. It aims to help members stay in their homes by assisting with basic needs and medical appointments.
In July, CenCal Health will add another four Community Supports programs. At that time, CenCal Health will be providing all of the State’s 14 Community Supports.
Joan Hartmann, 3rd District Santa Barbara County Supervisor, and a CenCal Health Board member, has long advocated for creating a safer, healthier community, and humanely addressing homelessness. “CenCal Health’s Community Supports program offers hope and dignity to the most vulnerable members of our communities,” said Hartmann. “Compassionate care results in better health outcomes and is more efficient than relying on emergency hospitalization to help those in crisis. The result is a more equitable health system for all on the Central Coast.”