What we do: We assist state and local governments, private foundations, and organizations with obtaining the costs for particular programs or services, calculating how much is spent on priority outcomes or populations of youth, exploring new and dynamic methods of sustainable funding, and demonstrating cost effectiveness and cost benefit of various programs and approaches. We also assist with the development of rates and associated service descriptions, regulations, Medicaid State Plan Amendments, Requests for Proposals, and grants; coding effect sizes for use in larger cost-benefit analyses; and analyzing service claims data for use in planning and financing.

Why we do it: Our goal is to support governments, organizations, and foundations to maximize their resources for prioritized initiatives and programs for children, youth, and families by minimizing duplications in funding, accessing un- and under-utilized funding streams, and focusing limited resources on those efforts that will achieve the greatest possible impact and return on investment.

How we do it: The staff members in the Fiscal Strategy Center, along with other staff and faculty at The Institute and our pool of national consultants and partners, create products that will meet the specific needs of the funder. Examples of works that have been produced or are in production include draft Medicaid State Plan Amendments, Medicaid rates and methodologies for new services, fund maps, children's budget matrices, white papers, journal articles, and presentations. We also support our colleagues in The Institute to provide technical assistance regarding behavioral health redesign efforts and health care reform implementation.