The Care Management Entity (CME) Program at The Buckeye Ranch
Understanding The Buckeye Ranch’s Care Management Entity (CME) Program: Support for Youth and Families in Need
At The Buckeye Ranch, we are committed to raising hope and restoring healing for children, youth, and families facing complex mental and behavioral health needs in Ohio. As an official Care Management Entity (CME), The Buckeye Ranch provides Care Coordination services to families. But what exactly is CME, and how can care coordination services benefit you or someone you know?
Understanding the Care Management Entity (CME) Program at The Buckeye Ranch
The Buckeye Ranch is a Care Management Entity (CME) within the Ohio Resilience through Integrated Systems (OhioRISE) program. OhioRISE is a specialized Medicaid-managed care initiative in the state of Ohio designed to assist children and youth facing complex behavioral health challenges, including mental health and substance use disorders, as well as multi-system needs. As a CME, The Buckeye Ranch offers Care Coordination services to families who are eligible for OhioRISE. Aetna Better Health of Ohio (Aetna) is the managed care partner collaborating with the program.
The CME program is a comprehensive, wrap-around service that provides children, youth, and families with a consistent resource to help them navigate the often complex and confusing multi-system environment. This means our team works directly with families to ensure they get the right support from multiple services and systems. Our team members are trained to provide care that reflects the cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic differences of the populations we serve to eliminate disparities in care.
What is Care Coordination?
Children and youth with complex needs are often part of multiple community systems, which could include local juvenile justice, child protection, education, and mental health programs. OhioRISE connects these systems through care coordination to create a highly personalized care plan for each individual’s behavioral health journey. OhioRISE was developed to ensure youth have coverage for and access the behavioral health support and care coordination services they need.
How does the Care Management Entity (CME) Program at The Buckeye Ranch Work?
Our Care Coordination services are designed to be individualized, putting the child and family at the center of the process. Here’s how the process looks:
- Same-Day Access: Families start with an initial assessment with our Same-Day Access team to understand the unique needs and challenges being faced. Our Same-Day Access team administers Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Assessments and eligibility screenings to determine a youth’s eligibility for OhioRISE, as well as access to other programs provided by The Buckeye Ranch through comprehensive Diagnostic Assessments.
- Personalized Care Coordination Plan: If eligible for OhioRISE, a youth can be connected with Care Coordination services. Our CME team works closely with the youth and family to create a care plan tailored to their specific needs. This includes connections to community providers to support those needs, whether that be connection to community partners or programs at The Buckeye Ranch, such as our Community-Based Mental Health programs, Community Medication Management, our Education-Based Mental Health programs, or other programs in our continuum of care. The youth and family’s input are central to this plan, ensuring it reflects their preferences and goals.
- Ongoing Support: The CME team continues to walk closely alongside the youth and family in their healing journey, checking on progress and making adjustments to the care plan as needed. This ensures youth and families receive appropriate, tailored support throughout their journey.
Key Principles that Guide Care Coordination at The Buckeye Ranch
The Buckeye Ranch’s care coordination services are built on several guiding principles that help us provide the most effective, culturally sensitive care:
- Family Voice and Choice: Families play an active role in shaping their care plan. Families know best what they need!
- Teams-Based: Care coordination is a collaborative effort between team members at The Buckeye Ranch, family members, and system partners.
- Community-Based: Kids and families do best when in their homes and communities with their families. We strive to keep services based in the community the youth and family live in, reducing barriers to access.
- Culturally Competent: Care is tailored to reflect the cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic needs of the family to eliminate disparities in care and support access.
- Individualized: Services are personalized to meet each youth and families’ specific needs.
- Strengths-Based: We focus on and empower the strengths of those we serve.
- Unconditional: We are committed to supporting youth and families without judgement or conditions.
- Outcome-Based: We focus on achieving positive, measurable outcomes for those we serve.
Who Can Benefit from the Care Management Entity (CME) Program?
The CME program at The Buckeye Ranch is available for children, youth, and families who are experiencing complex behavioral health challenges such as:
- Mental health disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression)
- Substance use disorders
- Behavioral or emotional disturbances
- Trauma and abuse
- Family conflict
- School or social difficulties
- Experiences with the juvenile justice system
Children and families who are a part of multiple systems can especially benefit from the care coordination The Buckeye Ranch offers through OhioRISE.
To learn more about CME, visit our website. To learn more about OhioRISE click here. To get/ started with services at The Buckeye Ranch or make a referral click here, or call us directly at 614-875-2371 for more information.
