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Bill To Continue Funding For Services For At-Risk Youth Signed By Governor

Gov. John Kasich has signed a bill that would continue $2.5 million in funding for a 40-year-old program providing wraparound services for at-risk kids with severe behavioral needs in Cuyahoga County. The program’s operator had said it was concerned that services would have to stop because of a dispute over who should pay for them.

The Kasich administration informed PEP Connections that when it was moved into Medicaid managed care July 1, it would no longer get state funding through Cuyahoga County. That funding paid for services not covered by Medicaid, and it was unclear how or if those services would continue. So lawmakers added a year’s worth of funding for PEP Connections to a bill dealing with organ transplants for people with disabilities.

Greg Moody with the governor’s office of Health Transformation said the goal now is to expand the program statewide. “We were glad to see that the legislature all also values this program. What they've proposed is some bridge funding to help that program through a transition.”

Though it hadn’t been guaranteed that the bill would be signed, PEP Connections had said it would keep paying for services and trust that reimbursements would come.

Contact Karen at 614-578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
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