Dear Colleague Letter on Best Practices for Adhering to Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Requirements

On November 22, 2024, the Children’s Bureau (CB) within the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) pertaining to the recent guidance issued by the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMS) entitled, Best Practices for Adhering to Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) Requirements  (PDF).

The DCL emphasizes the importance of the new CMS guidance, specifically for child welfare leaders seeking to address health care needs, both as a strategy for preventing entry into the child welfare system, as well as for addressing the needs of children and youth in foster care. The DCL also provides suggested actions for child welfare leaders to serve as valuable thought partners to their Medicaid counterparts in thinking through the benefits of specific Medicaid services across systems.