Eliot has been operating CSP-HI programming in the Commonwealth for the past eleven years. With our broad coverage of the emergency shelter systems coupled with a “seismic” shift in Massachusetts to a Housing First strategy, it became apparent that support services for homeless individuals exiting shelter was a critical need. The Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP), a behavioral health managed care organization working under contract with MassHealth, created the CSP-HI Program and partnered with a number of licensed behavioral/medical health entities providing services to their homeless patients. MBHP provided funding to five agencies for two full time case managers to serve 24 homeless individuals in each agency who were placed into housing. After several years operating the CSP-HI Program under the model described above, it became apparent that the total cost of healthcare and behavioral health services for this population had demonstrated significant expenditure savings to MassHealth.

In addition, a few years later, with the help of MHSA’s advocacy and the implementation of its new “Pay for Success Program”, the other MA Medicaid Managed Care Organizations also approved reimbursement for CSP-HI under the same rules and created a “universal” reimbursement rate for the support services. Eliot’s list of CSP-HI subcontractors grew over time and today stands at eighteen agencies, including our own CSP-HI program in Lawrence in conjunction with Commonwealth Landtrust. We are also a direct CSP-HI provider in conjunction with the City of Boston.