Washburn Center for Children is pioneering Medica’s innovative on-site Intensive Community Based Services (ICBS) for youth emotional wellness
MINNEAPOLIS, July 8, 2024 – Families in the Twin Cities gain a new ally for mental health support. In February 2024, Medica and Washburn Center for Children reinstated an innovative community-based support system to improve access to care.
Therapists in this unique program, Intensive Community Based Services (ICBS), deliver both face-to-face and virtual intensive support to kids and their families who are covered by Medica.
ICBS is built to be a safety net when children and their caregivers need additional interventions beyond current providers. Medica currently offers ICBS to adults through other providers. Washburn Center is the first youth provider as Medica reinstates the intensive, short-term service for youth and their families in Twin Cities communities. This program is a metro-wide service for Medica-covered clients only, supporting families for up to six months.
Washburn Center continues its focus on providing in-community safety nets with this partnership. Families enrolled with ICBS receive both focused on-site mental health support and counseling that is available where and when they need it, as well as industry-leading case management services that help caregivers access support services and navigate school, medical, and government systems.
“A family room floor or kitchen table is familiar therapy space for our community-based teams,” said Chief Clinical Officer, Jenny Britton, highlighting the flexibility of Washburn Center’s therapy model. “This ICBS partnership with Medica allows us to do what we do best with a whole new population of families. It allows us to bring tailored, on-site therapy to even more kids. We’re very excited to help even more folks heal.”
The partnership comes amid skyrocketing need for youth mental healthcare. Untreated mental health is having a devastating effect on every Minnesota community:
· Nationally, 15.08% of youth (12-17) suffered at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year. In Minnesota that’s up to 70,000 youth. Imagine the population of Maple Grove, Blaine or Lakeville with a debilitating health condition.
· Nationally, 27.2% of youth with severe depression receive some consistent treatment (7-25+ visits in a year). Minnesota that was 35.9%. That means 64% are not getting consistent treatment.
· E.R. visits for children’s mental health more than doubled between 2016 and 2020. Recent research found that around 25% of those without a follow-up visit had to re-visit the ER within six months.
· Suicide is the second leading cause of death in youth ages 10-24. Our ERs are flooded.
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Washburn Center for Children leads in child-centered care with the broadest and deepest spectrum of outpatient children’s mental health services in Minnesota. With one of the largest teams of children’s mental health therapists, its community-based model is strengthened by families and children served and grounded by impact that reaches to family networks, neighborhoods, schools and communities. Washburn Center is also a leader in training mental health professionals in trauma-informed, evidence-based care. Visit www.washburn.org for more information.
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CONTACT Julie Carver | Director of Communications | She/her/hers Julie.carver@washburn.org, 612-597-0934