AHCCCS Integrated System of Care (ISOC)

In 2001, the Jason K. Settlement Agreement established the Arizona System of Care as a set of values and principles to guide behavioral health service delivery to children in Arizona.

On July 1, 2016, the Arizona Department of Health Services, Division of Behavioral Health moved to AHCCCS to further integrate physical and behavioral health care within the AHCCCS health care delivery system. Since then, AHCCCS has continued to advance the System of Care model to include the adult population and to incorporate an integrated health perspective.

The goal of the Integrated System of Care is to ensure appropriate, adequate, and timely services for all persons across the lifespan, with a primary focus on improving quality of life throughout all system intersections and service interactions that individuals may encounter.

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System Oversight Structure

Policies related to SOC

Forms related to SOC

Behavioral Health Clinical Chart Audit

In February 2023, AHCCCS reinitiated the Behavioral Health Clinical Chart Audit process. Based on health plan and stakeholder feedback, multiple enhancements have been made to the audit process. The Behavioral Health (BH) Audit portal was developed and formally released for use on May 18, 2023. The BH Audit portal will be utilized by the managed care organizations (MCOs) to conduct the behavioral health audit. It will allow completion of audits in real time as well as efficient opportunities for data analysis. The BH Audit portal follows the BH Audit Tool and the accompanying Behavioral Health Clinical Chart Audit Instruction Guide.


System of Care and Workforce Development Efforts:

Child and Family Team Practice

Since the adoption of CFT, numerous changes have occurred to the children’s system of care that prompted AHCCCS to evaluate the CFT program, its curriculum, and approach to develop CFT facilitators.

In partnership with its managed care organizations (MCOs), the AHCCCS ISOC and Workforce Development teams created the following timeline for CFT training:

  1. From May 2022, provider agencies with staff that facilitate Child and Family Team meetings will need to identify a qualified “CFT Champion” to be the trainer of the CFT Facilitator training at their agency. Refer to the AZAHP Workforce Alliance notification for additional information.
  2. Starting June 2022, CFT Champions will be trained on the updated and revised CFT curriculum, and be taught how to provide this training at their agencies. The goal is a single, statewide, in-person, experiential approach focused on the competencies required to perform the nine CFT activities.
  3. AHCCCS developed specialized training In an effort to continually monitor CFT facilitators' skills and the fidelity of the practice. This training will teach supervisors how to evaluate a facilitator's skills using the CFT Supervisory Fidelity Review Tool, and how to coach skills for each of the nine essential elements of the CFT process. The CFT Champions will need to complete the additional supervisor training starting in September 2022. WFD will require the CFT Champions to attend tri-annual meetings starting in 2023 to ensure they are supported in their role and have the opportunity to bring questions back from their agency.

  4. Once provider agency supervisors have been trained, supervisors will use the CFT Supervisory Fidelity Review Tool to evaluate the skills of current and new facilitators, in compliance with AMPM 220, Child and Family Team. Supervisors will ensure the competency of their staff and monitor the fidelity of the CFTs being facilitated under their supervision. Supervisors will provide coaching on the nine essential elements of CFT practice as needed, but can also have staff re-trained in the new curriculum, if needed.

    Additional plans to ensure the fidelity of the CFT process include the following to begin in 2023:

    1. Create an optional 2-hour orientation level program for families and children who will participate in the CFT process,
    2. Create an optional 4-hour training program for any community member who wants to participate in the CFT process.

Court Ordered Evaluation and Treatment

On September 4, 2020, the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Mental Health and the Justice System provided a number of recommendations to improve the justice system for those with mental health care needs.

This included a focus on developing strategies to engage and intervene prior to entry into the justice system. In response to the Committee’s recommendations, AHCCCS created a Court Ordered Evaluation / Court Ordered Treatment (COE/COT) committee, which includes members from the Committee on Mental Health and the Justice System and additional system stakeholders (e.g. members of the Court, district attorney’s, mental health providers, state health plan members and the Office of Individual and Family Affairs) and community members.

This committee’s goal is to develop an effective and standardized statewide training on Court Ordered Evaluation and Treatment by the end of 2023. This training will include individual county processes, resources, and user experience from the peer-member/family perspective. The training will be publicly available and intended for a variety of audiences.

For more information related to COE/COT processes, please visit AHCCCS COE/COT webpage.

Current and Future Projects & Goals

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Revised 05/19/2023