The integrated care for kids model: Addressing fragmented care for pediatric medicaid enrollees in seven communities

Children with complex health and behavioral health conditions face challenges accessing coordinated health and community-based services. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), social determinants of health, and care delivery silos can lead to negative long-term outcomes. This paper provides an update on the Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) model from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Innovation Center and discusses barriers and facilitators to program implementation in the seven communities. The three core InCK activities-supported by flexible alternative payment models-are early identification, risk stratification, and service integration. Challenges include obtaining the appropriate Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) authorities, sharing data across non-traditional partners, assessing impact in non-clinical domains, and evaluating the program's impact on child health. InCK enables innovation in value-based purchasing by creating a guiding framework that allows states to design and implement a service delivery and payment model that accounts for the heterogeneity of Medicaid programs.