REHABILITATION SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH LONG-TERM MENTAL-ILLNESS IN THE MANAGED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM - STEPCHILD AGAIN

The growth of behavioral managed care systems in state after state has generated ongoing discussion about the framework for clinical service s for people with serious mental illness, but almost no consideration has been given to the impact of behavioral managed care on the deliver y of rehabilitation services for the same population. This paper raise s a number of key issues with regard to the ways rehabilitation servic es will be developed, funded coordinated, and assessed in the years ah ead and it suggests the importance of continued monitoring of contract language with regard to the rehabilitation involvement of behavioral managed care companies in the social residential, educational and voca tional realms of community life.