Healthy Blue, which debuted in July, is collaborating with SaySo on the initiative that will provide eligible young people with deposits, assistance with short-term or partial rentals, rent and utility arrears, and acquisition essential furniture.

SaySo is a statewide association, part of the Children’s Home Society of NC for young people ages 14-24 who are or have been in the out-of-home care system. This includes all types of surrogate care, including foster care, group homes, and mental health placements.

The Children’s Home Society said there are more than 12,000 foster children in the state, more than 450 of whom are aging each year,

The nonprofits said about 20% of North Carolina residents in foster care “become instantly homeless” after reaching their 18th birthday.

“Each year, hundreds of young people come out of North Carolina’s foster care system and, too often, fall through the cracks,” Jesse Thomas, CEO of Healthy Blue, said in a statement.

“Funding for this program is critical to supporting the health and well-being of these young adults and ensuring they have the resources and tools necessary to thrive and successfully transition into independent adulthood. “

The Flex Fund will be administered by SaySo’s Young Adult Leadership Council, which will develop an app for young people in need of housing assistance.

The application will include basic information about the housing application, such as the applicant’s demographics, type and amount of assistance requested, date needed, and other documents that may be needed to support the application, such as a W-9 form or an invoice.

Applicants will provide information to ensure funding is being used for housing, there is a mechanism to maintain housing, they are connected to additional programs and resources, and the young person has a system Support.

For more information, call (800) 632-1400 or visit www.chsnc.org.

SaySo began in 1998. It currently has 29 local chapters across North Carolina and has over 750 young adults in foster care and alumni.

The state’s Medicaid Managed Care program covers 1.7 million in North Carolina.

The four participating insurers statewide were awarded a three-year contract with a combined value of $6 billion per year. With two optional one-year extensions, a health care contract could be worth a total of $30 billion.

DHHS announced in February 2019 that it had chosen physician health plans from Centene (doing business as WellCare of NC), AmeriHealth Caritas NC, Healthy Blue, and UnitedHealth Group.

One of the key selling points of Medicaid’s transformation initiative is its focus on a patient’s overall health for those with mental health issues, addictions, and developmental disabilities.

Five years of often contentious legislative and public health debates culminated on July 3, 2020, when Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed Republican-sponsored legislation that provided critical start-up funding.

Managed care is a system in which people agree to see only certain doctors or go to certain hospitals, such as in a health maintenance organization, or HMO, or a preferred provider organization, or PPO, plan d ‘Health Insurance.

Under the current Medicaid system, providers are paid under a fee-for-service model administered by DHHS.

In contrast, physician plans will pay health care providers a fixed amount per month for each patient’s costs. There will be a limited number of people with special needs staying with fee-for-service providers.

DHHS pays for doctors’ plans.

Blue Cross has announced plans to create 500 jobs for its part of the processing.

Centene is committed to creating a regional headquarters and technology center on the East Coast in Charlotte with approximately 6,000 jobs and a capital investment of $1.03 billion.