HMA Solutions
Children’s Behavioral Health Consulting
Cross‑System Solutions for Schools, Health Systems, and State & Local Agencies
The US children’s behavioral health system is facing significant strains. Workforce shortages, fragmented funding and accountability, and rising demand are converging in the places where children spend time and receive care. Healthcare systems are seeing the impact in emergency departments and inpatient units, schools are expected to respond to student needs without sufficient capacity, and state and local agencies face pressure to align policy, financing, and programs across behavioral health, Medicaid, child welfare, and education.
How HMA Can Help
HMA partners with child-serving systems to translate urgency into practical, financeable, implementable improvements, strengthening the continuum from prevention and early intervention to crisis response and recovery. Examples of services we provide include:
Landscape assessments and needs analyses (qualitative and quantitative)
Stakeholder engagement and facilitated convenings (including family, youth, community, and cross-agency partners)
Gap analysis and service continuum design (school-, community-, and facility-based)
System and model redesign, including governance, referral pathways, and care coordination across settings
Strategic planning and implementation support (operational roadmaps, change management)
Regulatory and policy analysis to support compliant, scalable program models
Workforce strategy and provider training to build sustainable capacity
Financial modeling, including fiscal pro formas and revenue cycle considerations
Site assessments and facility studies to support service expansion and optimization
Who We Serve
We support providers, health systems, children’s hospitals, schools, school-based entities (including local education agencies [LEAs]), state and local government agencies and community-based partners working to improve children’s behavioral health.
Common Challenges
Fragmentation across child-serving systems,
Workforce shortages and training needs,
Misaligned financing and accountability, and
The operational challenge of coordinating care across school, community, and clinical settings.
Where We Help
Hospitals and Health Systems
Strengthen pediatric behavioral health strategy and operations—improving crisis pathways, clarifying roles across ED/inpatient/outpatient settings, and connecting clinical services to community and school-based partners
Schools, LEAs, and School-Based Entities
Build sustainable school mental health approaches—right-sizing service tiers, strengthening referral and care coordination, and aligning school-based services with Medicaid, community providers, and crisis systems
State and Local Government, Child-Serving Agencies, and Community-Based Partners
Advance cross-system solutions—aligning policy, financing, and accountability across behavioral health, Medicaid, child welfare, and education, while building implementable continuums of care that improve access and equity.
HMA Differentiators
Cross-setting expertise. We work across schools, community-based systems, and healthcare delivery settings, helping partners design handoffs and shared accountability rather than isolated programs.
Implementation and financing. We connect strategy to operations and the realities of financing, reimbursement, and sustainability so plans can move toward successful implementation and delivery.
Multidisciplinary team. Our team includes clinicians, program administrators, researchers, and former state and local leaders with deep knowledge of children’s behavioral health ecosystems. Many of us are parents and grandparents ourselves who are passionate about and personally invested in this work.
Partnership-first approach. We bring a collaborative, community-grounded process that centers children, youth, and families and builds durable cross-sector relationships.
Local context, national perspective. We tailor solutions to market dynamics, resources, and policy environments while bringing lessons learned from diverse geographies and client types.
Let’s strengthen children’s behavioral health—together.
Whether you’re leading in a hospital or healthcare system, a school or LEA, or a state or local agency, we can help you align partners and build an implementable plan across the continuum of care.
Contact us to discuss your priorities and identify next steps.
