CRISS Members:

What We Do

We bring together the three major CCS stakeholder groups—family support organizations, children’s hospitals and pediatric organizations, and county CCS programs-- in a cohesive regional coalition for collaboration and planning. 

Our goals are to:

• Maintain a consistent regional vehicle for coordination and collaboration in the CRISS region.

• Promote family-centered care and medical homes for children with special health care needs.

• Reduce cross-county barriers posed by different eligibility and authorization interpretation and processes.

• Improve regional information sharing with members and other groups regarding the CCS program, best practices, and quality standards.

To meet these goals, we carry out activities such as:

• We convene quarterly meetings of CRISS with representatives of our three core constituencies--families, pediatric providers, and CCS programs--to share information and practices, identify barriers to timely and appropriate care, and design strategies to promote a strong, effective and efficient CCS program.

• We promote family-centered care for children with special health care needs through conferences, information-sharing on strategies for promoting family-centered care, and provision of technical assistance to support local CCS program efforts toward family centeredness. We are particularly interested in promoting transition planning for youth graduating out of the CCS program and creation of parent health liaison positions to work with local CCS programs.

• We review CCS medical eligibility regulations and their local interpretation on a regular basis, recommend clarifications and updates to the state, and agree on consistent interpretation and implementation in our region. These activities help to reduce inter-county differences in interpretations that can disrupt children’s care and create obstacles for large pediatric institutions serving children from multiple counties.

• We develop guidelines for consistent interpretation and implementation of state CCS policy and regulations within the CRISS region. Consistency at the county level makes life easier for children and their families, CCS providers, and local CCS programs.

• We work with State DHCS, Medi-Cal and the Medi-Cal Fiscal Intermediary to identify and correct barriers to timely processing of CCS claims.  CRISS efforts helped result in the elimination of Medi-Cal edits that limited CCS billing and reimbursements (e.g. frequency and location of service edits).  We continue to follow implementation of authorizations and billing, apprising the state of questions and concerns and sharing information on the authorizations and claims processes among provider groups and institutions.