LA County Districts Eligible for Statewide Student Mental Health Funding

LA County Districts Eligible for Statewide Student Mental Health Funding

Tue Sep 22 08:06:00 PDT 2026

This statewide reimbursement model allows LEAs to recover costs and build sustainable ongoing funding for eligible school-based behavioral health services.

Local educational agencies can access sustainable funding to expand student mental health support through the California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI Fee Schedule Program).

The Los Angeles County Office of Education encourages all L.A. County Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to participate in this opportunity. Managed by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), this statewide reimbursement model allows LEAs to recover costs and build sustainable ongoing funding for eligible school-based behavioral health services.

There are two pathways for participating in the CYBHI Fee Schedule Program.

DHCS Cohort Participation: LEAs who elect to participate through a DHCS Cohort, are responsible for all aspects of CYBHI Fee Schedule onboarding and implementation, including contracting with an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. To participate in a DHCS Cohort, LEAs must apply to become a member of a Cohort. These applications open every 6 month, with claims submission readiness typically taking 6-9 months post application submission. The next cohort application, Cohort 7, is due Friday, October 9, 2026. The Cohort 7 Readiness Assessment Application can be found here.

LACOE Student Mental Health Consortium Member (Recommended): As an inaugural member of the CYBHI Fee Schedule program, LACOE has obtained DHCS approval to serve as the lead agency for member LEA Fee Schedule participation without requiring DHCS cohort participation. LACOE Consortium members experience reduced administrative burden by providing onboarding and implementation support for their LEA and partner providers, provider fee schedule training, EHR access, claims processing, and audit readiness. In addition, Consortium members are eligible for a range of free professional development offerings, Continuing Education credits for licensed providers, and other services and supports designed to help their LEAs enhance their comprehensive school mental health systems and school counseling programs. LEAs can request to participate in LACOE's Consortium at any time, and begin submitting claims as soon as they complete contracting and onboarding.

LACOE is holding two information sessions to provide an overview of the CYBHI Fee Schedule program and the two participation pathways.

Register for one of the sessions below to learn about the CYBHI Fee Schedule Program, both participation pathways, and to explore Consortium membership benefits and understand the full scope of services available.

• Thursday, Sept. 24, from 10 to 11 a.m. Register for the Sept. 24 Info Session.
• Thursday, Oct. 1, from 1 to 2 p.m. Register for the Oct. 1 Info Session.

For additional information please contact Lesly Solano, Program Manager, at [email protected].