California’s First 5 network is leading the way for early childhood-serving organizations to take part in Medi-Cal transformation. Over the last several years, California has taken significant steps to transform its Medi-Cal program and reaffirm its commitment to young children. Many of the state’s efforts to transform Medi-Cal fall under the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, a long-term plan to transform Medi-Cal into a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered program. As part of CalAIM, California’s has launched new Medi-Cal benefits that leverage community-based providers, such as the community health worker (CHW) services benefit and the enhanced care management (ECM) benefit.
The success of Medi-Cal transformation and the implementation of new Medi-Cal benefits depend on the integration of trusted community partners as Medi-Cal providers. First 5s’ expertise in early childhood development and child-serving county systems, their connections to families with young children, and their relationships and contracts with family-serving community organizations make them a key implementation partner. The experiences of First 5s in this work provide critical information to state leaders and other community partners working towards this shared goal.
To ready the statewide First 5 network for this opportunity, the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy has engaged county First 5s in Medi-Cal learning since 2021.
In 2023, we launched a formal project called the Medi-Cal Learning Community (MCLC) to help First 5s develop partnerships with Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs) and provide technical assistance to support First 5s’ engagement with Medi-Cal.
As part of this work, we have created feedback loops to key DHCS staff on questions the network has, resources communities need, or challenges First 5s are facing in Medi-Cal contracting. Our team supports counties in getting their implementation questions answered while simultaneously promoting important policy changes informed by First 5 experience.
To date, 10 First 5s are contracted with their local MCPs to deliver CHW and/or ECM services. For more information about which First 5s are involved in leveraging Medi-Cal, see the table below. Additionally, to learn more about the role First 5s have played in Medi-Cal transformation, check out our latest brief, “Making CalAIM Work for Community Providers: Lessons and Strategies from California’s First 5 Network.”
