MANAGING CARE ACROSS SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

Behavioral health administrators deserve much credit for their efforts to integrate services for children with serious emotional disturbance s and to instill a concern for efficiency through the concept of manag ed care. Recent changes in federal policy signal the next stage of dev elopment in systems of care. Issues of accountability now are shifting toward comprehensive systems of care and improving outcomes for famil ies and communities, not just individuals. As they help build such sys tems in their states and communities, behavioral health administrators can help their colleagues in other systems understand the potential u sefulness of concepts and practices associated with managed care and t he broader notion of a system of care. In turn, they will be asked to expand their conception of the accountability of the mental health age ncy for the outcomes being experienced by families, neighborhoods, and the community as a whole.