The California Medical Home Project:
Improving Care Delivery for Children with Special Health Care Needs

The California HealthCare Foundation has committed funding to support seven local, community-based coalitions for the California Medical Home Project. The project will promote the development of new and improved systems, designed by stakeholders, to improve access to medical homes for children with special health care needs.

The purpose of this project is to improve access to comprehensive, coordinated primary and specialty care for children with special health care needs and their families by developing a statewide network of family-centered medical homes. This network consists of locally-based community coalitions throughout the state. The coalitions will build upon the resources of each of the participating communities and it will be responsive to their unique needs. A Statewide Coalition, composed of individuals from the public and private sectors that serve children with special health care needs and their families, parents, and other experts, has formed to examine obstacles and opportunities for model development, address broad policy issues, and identify and mentor new and established local coalitions interested in implementing medical home models. The project Steering Committee meets monthly to guide project activities and the Program Office supports local coalitions through technical assistance, consultation, training and sharing of information.

The primary target population for this proposed project is the approximately 150,000 children who receive services from California Children’s Services (CCS). These children are the main focus of the statewide and local medical home coalitions’ efforts toward building and sustaining a medical home infrastructure. However, since most providers do not limit their practices to those children enrolled in the CCS program, it is expected that, ultimately, other children with special needs, whether enrolled in CCS or not, will benefit from project activities.

Anticipated outcomes of this project include the development of a statewide network of medical homes, locally-based but connected by common definitions and standards, and improved access to medical homes within the communities in which children and their families live. In addition, the activities of the statewide and local coalitions will serve to promote collaboration between agencies and programs serving children with special needs, professional organizations, and the community at large.