Protect Family Access to Integrated Support Through CIS

Children’s Integrated Services (CIS) delivers evidence-based and informed services to families with young children as part of a coordinated continuum of care across multiple types of providers and settings. Thanks to state funding increases over the last two years, the case rate paid to providers is now closer to the actual cost of services. However, CIS referrals are currently increasing statewide, which is creating CIS program budget deficits for both FY23 and FY24.

The Alliance supports the lead organizations’ efforts to secure an increased investment in CIS to support increased demand. In addition, the Alliance supports the proposed one-time investment to build a statewide CIS data reporting platform.

LEAD ORGANIZATIONS: Vermont Parent Child Center Network and Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development

Talking Points

  • The pandemic has created significant strains on the CIS system, and these will continue as public health impacts are felt in the coming months and years. In the Brattleboro AHS District we have seen a 6% increase in referrals, a 21% increase in clients put onto CIS One Plans, and a 50% reduction in clients lost to follow up, indicating an increase in engagement in services. 
  • The Child Development Division’s own study in 2019 revealed that the current rate of $600 per member per month (PMPM) does not cover the cost of providing services. Based on that study, the inflation adjusted rate to cover actual costs would now be $700 PMPM, requiring a $1.8 million increase to the annual CIS budget to bring it to $13.3 million. This level of funding would be adequate to fully fund services at the pre-pandemic levels. 
  • With the large influx of federal pandemic response funding, we have a unique opportunity to utilize one-time federal funding to make a desperately needed upgrade of CIS’ data collection and reporting system that also fully integrates with CDD’s data system CDDIS. Without a common data system, CIS providers lack the ability to visualize the data, track client progress, and make real time changes to their service plans as needed, and CDD cannot compare and track data across the CIS regions. 
 

Resources and Advocacy Tools