Committee Descriptions

ABH’s Committees are the “grassroots” of our organization. Participation on most committees is open to our full membership and participants range from agency CEOs to Program Managers to Administration and Finance staff to front line workers. 

Our Committees are essential to setting ABH’s advocacy agenda. They identify pertinent policies or programmatic issues to be discussed or addressed by ABH with policy makers. They help establish the priorities for our annual work plan, advise the Board of Directors, take action to assure positive outcomes, insure that appropriate interface occurs with the relevant state agencies, and inform our entire ABH community of actions taken on behalf of all providers.

ABH Committees also offer members a non-competitive environment to share and discuss industry best practices. They offer an important peer support network for providers to address the specific challenges faced by the community behavioral health field.

Our committee structure is based on the needs of our members and includes the following categories:
• Systems Committees
• Behavioral Health Services Committees
• Policy Committees

To find out more about our committees, please contact Megan Socha, Member Engagement and Event Coordinator, at [email protected] or 508-647-8385, ext. 18. Sign up for a committee here.

Systems Committees

Billing Rules, Regulations and Policy Committee: Meets monthly. This committee focuses on policies and operational issues associated with billing/collection for all Medicaid products/payers, as well as Massachusetts health care reform products and commercial insurers. The committee is comprised of billing staff with broad experience in billing/collection policy and implementation issues. Members work together with ABH to resolve billing challenges and to strive for improved collections and better practices.

		Scott Borgeson, Director of Patient Accounts Aspire Health Alliance

Corporate Compliance Committee: Meets monthly. The Corporate Compliance Committee supports the work of members’ corporate compliance programs. It is staffed by external consultants who encourage the sharing of information, and focus on helping ABH members comply with state and federal regulations, including assisting them with development of internal operational oversight processes necessary to insure that compliance occurs.

E-Health Committee: Meets every other month. This committee provides guidance, peer support and resources to ABH members as they undertake the selection, implementation and on-going use of electronic health record systems. The Committee is the successor to the e-Health Steering Committee and sub-committees which were formed in 2006 to initiate ABH’s e-Health Initiative.

Human Resources Committee: Meets every other month. This committee focuses on the human resources needs and interests of ABH’s members such as employee recruitment and retention, performance management and evaluations, documentation, communication, health insurance, staff orientation, and tuition reimbursement. The committee developed a salary survey of ABH members which is updated every three years.

Karen Conway, Vice President, Human Resources SHRM-SCP Pine Street Inn

Quality and Outcomes Committee: Meets every other month. This committee focuses on a variety of issues related to quality improvement and outcomes measurement, preferred practice guidelines, evidence-based practices, regulation, accreditation, utilization review/management, and general issues related to members’ efforts to measure treatment outcome.

Behavioral Health Services Committees

Acute Treatment Services/Clinical Stabilization Services (ATS/CSS) Committee: Meets every other month. This committee represents the ATS/Enhanced ATS and CSS levels of care (ASAM Levels 3.5 and 3.7) which are procured by MassHealth/MCEs, commercial plans and the DPH/Bureau of Substance Addiction Services for uninsured patients. Topics related to medication assisted treatment, best practices, regulations and standards of care, rates of payment, retention of patients in treatment and movement of patients into other levels of care throughout the treatment system are discussed.

Adult Community and Clinical Supports (ACCS) Committee:  Meets every month.  This committee focuses on policies and issues related to DMH-contracted ACCS services.  The committee addresses issues including state oversight/management, housing, licensing and other regulations, Medication Administration Program, Rehab Option, staffing, roles of Peer Specialists, and quality management/outcome measurement. 

Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) Committee: Meets every other month. This committee meets as an information sharing and support group for providers who deliver CBHI (including Community Service Agency or CSA) services for MassHealth enrollees. This committee is a venue for CBHI program directors and staff to convene to share best practices and discuss operational challenges in providing CBHI services.

Chaired by:
		Jessica Bedney, LICSW, Community Service Agency Director Children's Services of Roxbury

Children's Services Committee: Meets every other month. This committee focuses on policies and issues related to the provision of mental health and addiction treatment and care to children and adolescents. This committee provides a forum for program directors and staff to share best practices and discuss operational challenges in providing services funded by DMH, DPH-BSAS, and in the case of Caring Together, DCF.

Co-Occurring Enhanced Residential Recovery Services (COE RRS) Committee: Meets every other month. The COE RRS Committee was established to address start-up related issues and the barriers encountered with siting and establishing this new level of care in Massachusetts. Other topics covered include rate setting, regulatory requirements, policy and programmatic document discussions and the clinical services being delivered in this specialized treatment model designed to serve individuals with moderate to severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders.

Massachusetts Impaired Driver Program/Second Offender Aftercare (MIDP/SOA) Committee: Meets monthly. This committee addresses the services provided to individuals who have been court-adjudicated or required by the Registry of Motor Vehicles into treatment. The agenda for this committee is multi-faceted and driven by the needs of its members. Topics of discussions focus on provider relationships and communications with District Courts, probation officers and officials at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The committee works to standardize documentation and review curriculum and licensing requirements on an ongoing basis.

Chaired by:

Gloria Torres
Gandara Center

Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) Committee: Meets monthly. The OTP Committee focuses on all aspects of service provision and compliance with multiple state and federal regulations and policies that govern their services. A wide range of topics are discussed including the provision of all FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorders, staffing levels, counseling services, payer related problems, as well as the Medicare procurement of OTP services as of 1/1/2020.

Janice F. Kauffman, RN, MPH, CAS, LADC 1 North Charles Foundation, Inc.

Psychiatric Day Treatment (PDT)/Partial Hospitalization Committee: Meets every other month. The Psychiatric Day Treatment providers focus on issues related to the purchase of PDT services including review of program regulations, guidelines, standards and outcome measures; and data collection related to the acuity of clients served and treatment outcomes. The Partial Hospitalization providers discuss the services regulated by CMS for Medicare Part A, relative to billing issues and audits/chart reviews by the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), and the Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for Partial Hospitalization services.

Chaired by:
	Elaine Farash, LICSW, Vice President of Behavioral Health Services The Edinburg Center

Outpatient Committee: Meets every other month. This committee focuses on issues related to mental health and addiction outpatient treatment services purchased by MassHealth, the MassHealth MCEs, the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, Medicare and commercial insurance payers. The committee discusses insurance-related authorization problems, staffing/licensing requirements, applicable program guidelines and standards, staff morale, client retention in treatment, documentation, staff supervision, and innovation in the field.

Residential Recovery Services/Transitional Support Services (RRS/TSS) Committee: Meets every other month. he members of this committee focus on the regulations, policies, standards and best practices that govern their services as well as the multitude of operational issues that arise in this ASAM Level 3.1 service. Topics of discussion include staffing requirements, access to treatment, rates, licensing and reporting requirements.

Structured Outpatient Addiction Program (SOAP) Committee: Meets every other month. This committee discusses the policies, regulations and program standards related to SOAP and Enhanced SOAP programs. The committee focuses on understanding medical necessity criteria and American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) patient placement criteria; and billing issues and codes by payer, the services provided, performance standards, and operational issues.

Policy Committees

Adult Community and Clinical Supports (ACCS) Policy Committee: Meets every other month.  Membership on the committee is limited to CEOs of ABH member organizations or their direct reports at the executive level. Organizations are limited to one seat on the committee. It supports the policy, rating, and other operational aspects of ACCS services purchased by the Department of Mental Health. This Committee helps guide ABH staff as they work to promote the work of ACCS providers within the health and human services delivery system.

Behavioral Health Community Partner (BHCP) Executive Committee: Meets monthly. This committee is limited to CEOs or their direct reports. Organizations are limited to one seat on the committee. This committee allows CEOs the opportunity to more fully discuss emerging and ongoing policy issues relative to the BHCP program, including the role of BHCPs in the evolving health care delivery system. This committee also identifies overarching policy issues associated with BHCPs and prioritizes those issues for discussion with the executive branch and other groups.

Chaired by:

Ken Bates, Chief Executive Officer
Open Sky Community Services

Children's Services CEO Leadership Committee: Meets every other month. Membership on the committee is limited to CEOs of ABH member organizations or their direct reports at the executive level. Organizations are limited to one seat on the committee. This committee allows CEOs the opportunity to more fully discuss emerging and ongoing policy issues in the field of children's behavioral health, including the role of children's behavioral health in the evolving health care system. This committee also identifies overarching policy issues associated with child and adolescent mental health and addiction services and prioritizes those issues for discussion with the executive branch, the legislature and other groups. These discussions help inform policy initiatives undertaken by ABH by giving added focus to issues unique to serving children and adolescents.

Emergency Services Program (ESP) Committee: Meets on an ad hoc basis. This committee is limited to CEOs and supports the policy, rating, and other operational aspects of ESPs purchased by MassHealth and the Medicaid Managed Care Entities (MCEs). This Committee helps guide ABH staff as they work to promote the work of ESPs across the health care delivery system.

Senior Leadership Committee on Partnering with Underserved Populations: Meets monthly. This committee is limited to CEOs and their direct reports and focuses on achieving equitable access to quality mental health and addiction treatment services for the people and communities of The Commonwealth who face systemic, cultural, ethnic, racial, linguistic, ability, gender, socioeconomic, age, religious, and LGBTQIA disparities. This committee addresses structural challenges to providing and accessing services to these marginalized populations through advocacy targeted at critical stakeholders throughout the health care system, including state leadership and payers.