Abt Global worked with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to increase attention to and understanding of Medicaid mental health and substance use disorder services issues among state Medicaid directors and staff. The expansion of services under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes coordination between Medicaid directors and state mental health authorities key to effective program management.

Abt conducted a number of activities to improve the knowledge of mental health and substance use disorder services in Medicaid, including specialized data gathering and preparation and dissemination of targeted reports. Other activities included:

• Designing and implementing of a survey of state Medicaid programs;
• Identifying and disseminating best practices reports;
• Supporting a Medicaid and Mental Health Technical Advisory Group;
• Providing information to national Medicaid Directors’ association through conference presentations and focus groups; and
• Developing a mechanism to obtain advice from state Medicaid directors and others concerning ways to improve delivery of evidence based services.