December 21, 2022 – Aetna’s Medicaid plan in West Virginia has agreed to provide $9.3 million in funds to 10 community-based organizations to support the behavioral health and social care needs for children in foster care. 

The funding provided by Aetna Better Health of West Virginia aligns with the payer’s goal of helping residential facilities prepare children and their families to transition to home or community-based settings. 

The 10 residential and community-based service providers that will receive funding include:

• Board of Child Care
• NUSkool Scholars LLC
• KVC West Virginia, a subsidy of KVC Health Systems
• Lily’s Place
• St. Mary’s Medical Center
• Marshall Health/Department of Family Medicine
• Facing Hunger Foodbank, Inc.
• CAMC Foundation, Inc.
• Community Care of West Virginia
• Williamson Health and Wellness Center

The organizations receiving the funds will work to support children that have serious emotional disorders and the families after they transitioned. The funds will also support these community-based organizations that address social determinants of health (SDoH) by improving access to holistic care.

“Aetna’s latest funding will primarily support local behavioral health services, such as in-home therapy and crisis intervention for children and families, with the goal of keeping kids at home and in their community,” Todd White, chief executive officer of Aetna Better Health of West Virginia, said in the press release.

Kathy Szafran, executive director of Mountain Health Promise at Aetna Better Health of West Virginia, added, “West Virginia is enabling more children with a CSED waiver to live in a caring family environment with the opportunity to build loving relationships while receiving needed behavioral health treatment locally. Building community capacity and educating biological and foster families to support these kids at home, especially in the rural areas that make up most of the state, helps to keep kids and their families together, allowing them the time to heal and grow.”

For the entire press release, please click here.