2025 PA Health Funders Collaborative Policy Agenda Items

Behavioral Health

  • Improve the behavioral health crisis system and connections to mental health services
  • Create a funding stream for youth mental health prevention and early intervention services provided by community-based organizations

Resources:

pdf 988 Recommendations

pdf Teen Mental Health Recommendations

pdf Teen Mental Health CBO Prevention Brief

 

 Maternal Health

  • Sustain the Perinatal Telephonic Psychiatric Consultation Service (TiPS) program to provide provider-to-provider consultations on how to identify and treat perinatal mental health and substance use disorders 
  • Support paid family leave

Resources: 

pdf Maternal and Child Health Recommendations

 

Healthcare Workforce

  • Increase funding for staffing in nursing home and long-term care settings
  • Increase the behavioral health workforce by integrating behavioral and physical health care, ensuring adequate supervision to enable therapists to become licensed providers, and enforcing mental health parity laws
  • Modernize the scope of practice for Certified-Nurse Midwives and License Certified Midwives
  • Reimburse certified Community Health Workers and certified Perinatal Doulas 

Resources: 

pdf Workforce Recommendations

pdf Long-Term Care Workforce Recommendations

 

Access to Health Care and Public Services

  • Continue Medicaid coverage for eligible Pennsylvanians 
  • Modernize enrollment systems for SNAP, WIC, LIHEAP, and Medicaid 
  • Ensure access to housing, school lunches, language services

Resources:

pdf Ex Parte Recommendations

pdf Housing Recommendations